http://www.tullamore-dew.org/
Fond memories of our trip to Ireland - the music, the lovely room in Killarney and the dew...
Certainly org indicates an educational web site.

Leading the Parade at Magic Kingdom

The John Carroll Band performed admirably in Disney World's Magic Kingdom. The parade route took them from Frontierland to the main entrance. The day was bright, sunny and HOT - 96 degrees.

Memo for next time:

Ice packs

Spray bottles

Three hour shifts for the chaperones

Relay for Life

We are a little groggy after spending the night at the Havre de Grace High School track walking the Relay for Life. We had 23 members in our team and our camp site placed first for decorations - though the highest award was "grand" so I guess you could say we came in second. Teams were to choose a movie and decorate based on that. We chose Finding Nemo and had a lot of fun with Dorie's character.

Thank you, Mr. Tom for cooking dinner and then coming back at 4:30 a.m. to make us pancakes! Thanks you, Me. Ernie for setting up your fire pit. We loved being able to make S'mores but didn't plan on needing it for warmth.

We definitely want to do this again next year. We learned a lot about fundraising. Add to our checklist - pillows, blankets, and lounge chairs!

Consider doing it: we had a lot of fun and raised money for a cause whose devastation had affected us all.

View of Downtown Havre de Grace

You heard it here first...

A well known, European film maker and his crew will be filming a slasher/horror film in downtown Havre de Grace this summer. Their offices will be in the old Bank of Memories and they will be filming mainly on Washington Avenue!

Some things make it all worthwhile

A couple of years ago my book club, the notorious BCMA, was gathered at Coakley's, allegedly to compare and contrast the book and movie version of The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, when we noticed that there were quite a few college kids in the bar. One of the young men approached me and I recognized him as one of my Havre de Grace patrons from some time ago. He came right up to me with a big smile on his face, gave me a hug and said, "Ms. Susan, I always loved your storytimes!"

Travel happily

He who would travel happily must travel light.
Antoine de Saint Exupéry

Going with John Carroll's chorus and band to Walt Disney World next week. I may try to add to this blog down there. We have about 70 students going and a small group of parent chaperones. I'm looking forward to the trip and I am in the process of over-planning the trip.

This trip and our MLA Canadian Cruise are getting mixed up in my head. I'll go to the Canada exhibit at Epcot and think I've already been to Halifax!

Accept responsibility/View problems as challenges

I've combined these two habits of life-long learners because in my mind they go hand in hand. Somewhere along the way, one hopes their child will learn to accept responsibility, admit guilt, fess up...but oh, there are times when the best of us would just like to point a finger and say, "Jimmy did it."

Years ago, it was the habit of a former director to invite library board members to the Committee of Thirteen (Administrative Council) meetings. One board member fully embraced the tenets of the Power of Positive Thinking and talked quite a bit about the idea of viewing problems as challenges. He introduced us to his family's way of cutting down on negativity - the Neggie Jar. Members of his family had to put a quarter in the jar every time they were negative, abrupt, or if they cursed or said other unkind things. Our director liked the idea of having us all read the same book and share the ideas put forth. We read How to Win Friends and Influence People, The Power of Positive Thinking and other classics.

Begin with an end in mind

Now there's a good suggestion. Did I consider this when I started this blog? Nooo. I am looking forward to pimping my blog. I can't wait to add some photos and web links. I hope to reach a point where my teenaged daughter will no longer roll her eyes at me while I attempt new technological feats. (I know I will never be able to stop the eye-rolling completely)
I like the idea of a web site and wonder what makes someone's MySpace different from or more desirable than a web site. And if a blog allows you to add photos, podcasts and links, why not just blog?

Let's start

1. Reading other people's blogs seems almost voyeuristic. I am impressed with the thought and creativity put into the blogs I've read so far. I'm not sure where people find the time! I run from one activity to the next and by the time I settle in for the night, the last thing I want to do is type. I really would like a portable, voice-activated keyboard.
2. I reviewed the 7 1/2 Habits of Highly Successful Lifelong Learners. Because of bandwidth issues here in the branch I read the screen and advanced through quickly. Fortunately, I had already done this tutorial. On January 9, Branch Managers participated in a teleconference introducing us to this model. I was delighted that the tutorial encouraged us to "make play our New Year's resolution." Of course, that is the 1/2 Habit that makes everything else approachable and doable. Attitude is everything. This is the easiest and hardest to accomplish. Fish! Philosophy encourages us to choose our attitude - to decide to bring more enthusiasm to work, to consider the magnificent versus the ordinary. I think we could use a plan for lifting ourselves out of the dumps when schedules are tight and computers are slow, though a cold, wet fish seems somehow inappropriate in our setting, we need that sense of play. I liked the idea of a learning contract. This isn't too much different from our PERS goals - establishing the goal, identifying obstacles, and assembling the toolbox to achieve the goal seem obvious but when you multitask you sometimes forget to check in and regroup. You also forget to pat yourself on your back.
3. Setting up my blog was a little confusing. I wanted to be clever and pithy but found it hard to think while filling out the blanks. I discovered that I have three blogs! One of them was done last year and I never added to it after I set it up.