The Outer Banks of North Carolina - I need your magic again!

I need to repeat what I wrote on my blog in May 2010 "The Outer Banks are magical -- at least that is what I have always felt for the thirty-eight years I have been coming here. Through the years it has been the place I would go to sort out life's challenges and disappointments. A place to put things in perspective and figure out what to do or how to handle a particular situation. That is why, for now, I moved the saying at the end of my blog to the top right under the title. And through the years, even though I have seen unbelievable changes in the area, the ability to help me deal with life has not changed. Sitting on the beach looking out to the ocean can do wonders to clear my mind and prioritize what is important!"   That's why I am planning a trip to the OBX the first of March, and I know it won't fail me this time," but provide me once again with a safe haven to get emotions out of the way so I can see things clearly and deal with the situation and move forward"

I am faced with a major life change - retirement.  Do I want to - no not really = but it may be time for many other reasons.  Two years ago I took a class that indicated that I should be able to answer two questions - Why am I retiring?  And what am I retiring to?  I do not really have an answer - especially for the second one.  Can I afford it financially?  How will my life change?  What will I do? I have never known a time I did not work - except for the year I took off to get my Masters and the couple times I had extended illnesses.  For me, it is not an easy answer.  So I'm hoping the magic of the Outer Banks will help me once again.

I find it quite interesting that I have not been to this sight and posted in three years - that just isn't possible - but the dates don't lie.  I read the post just prior to the elections in 2010.  Except for the links I could write a similar post today.  I believe the same thing and I hope everyone will be an informed voter and vote for the candidate that can and will lead us into the future. 

ALA Elections

For those of you who are ALA members you have just received or will be receiving shortly your ballot for the ALA election. As an incoming ALA Executive Board member it is inappropriate for me to endorse any candidate. However, I would ask that you be an informed voter and read the biographies, statements, newsletter and journal articles of the candidates and then vote. Visit both candidates web sites and all the links: http://mollyraphael.org/ and http://www.skj4ala.com/ I urge you to vote for the person that can not just lead ALA - but who will move ALA forward. I care deeply about ALA and its future which is the future of librarianship. ALA is at a critical point and we need someone at the President's level with the understanding of ALA's budget, governance and policies to maintain a strong professional organization. My choice for ALA President, I will be glad to discuss with you on a personal basis. This is a critical decision and not one I have made lightly. I am not voting by type of library, region of the country or any other such reason. I am voting for the candidate that can and will do the best job, for all of us! Please join me in doing so! Thank you.

Enough is Enough!

It started snowing again late yesterday evening and snowed all night, all day and is still snowing now. During the day the winds reached 40-50 MPH and there were whiteout conditions. I hadn't seen whiteout conditions like that since I was skiing at Araphoe Basin in Summit County, Colorado! The temperature was around 20 degrees with a wind chill of 2 - 4 degrees. The snow blew and swirled and at times the winds were fierce blowing the dogwood tree into the side of the house constantly. We are supposed to get another 12-15" but I haven't been outside to measure yet! We officially reched a record of the most snowfall in a winter in Washington DC. - EVER!. Schools are closed for the remainder of the week and central offices are closed today and Thursday. They will let us know by 4:00 tomorrow if central offices are open Friday. It's amazing how much time I have had - time to catch up - time to do those things I keep putting off. But what did I do? Those things I don't have time for like just relaxing, cooking and baking. I also spent a lot of time on the Internet - just surfing - and of course Face Book. Made four dozen chocolate chip cookies today - for whomever comes by (and cleans off my walks and car). My neighbor came by earlier today to borrow my shovel as they broke theirs today. They said they would be back tomorrow to clean off my walks and car! Guess I know who will be eating the cookies! Have really enjoyed the peaceful quiet of the snow - but the hectic schedule will return!

More Snow Still!

With at least two feet of snow schools were closed on Monday as was Central offices. Finally ventured out for some crawfish and other fixings for Crawfish Stew! The stores were out of everything and people were everywhere! Schools were closed on Tuesday also, but Central offices were open with liberal leave in effect. I took liberal leave as I had a doctors appointment and needed to get some supplies to an elderly friend before snow hit again! I reported to the office to be sure everything was OK - then came home. More snow is predicted to arrive this afternoon and snow all day tomorrow. We are due to get another 12-15". This is really a lot for this area. What could I do but make the stew and enjoy!

Who Dat? Dat the Saints!!!

What a great game and a great win for a great city! The Saints were remarkable this year and rallied to win - even though they started ten points down. A risky opening play of the second half - a great interception and a two point conversion made for a really exciting game. The first ever trip to the Super Bowl for the Saints - and just a few years ago their fans were wearing bags on their heads and calling them The Aint's! So for a die hard Redskin fan - this gives me hope - it can be done! Wouldn't it be great to be on Bourbon Street right now - or at the parade on Tuesday! Hmmm - time to make some Crawfish Stew!

Digging Out - Senior Citizen Style!

Once again snow was predicted and most of Friday's meetings were canceled. Delivered a few things to Charles - if the snow came I wasn't sure when I would get back! It started snowing late Friday afternoon - and continued all night and all day Saturday. By Sunday I had at least 24" and could not get out the front door and the snow was packed against the back sliding door. All day the forecast kept saying - be sure your neighbors, especially senior citizens are safe and can get out. Well, I have little strength to shovel more than a few shovels of snow - and besides the condo cleans the sidewalks. So I just waited. When they do clear the sidewalks - I can get to the car and probably clean the snow off the car. I waited and waited. Late afternoon, the two neighbor high school girls who helped me in the December snow storm knocked on my door and wanted to know if I wanted them to clean off my sidewalk and car! In this instance I did not mind being a senior citizen! The girls worked hard and did an amazing job! Even spread salt after they shoveled! It's great to have such caring neighbors!

Snow and More Snow

Well, I guess we are due as we have had very light winters the last several years - but we seem to be making up for it this year. In December we had a record 18-20" which officially registered as the seventh largest storm in the Washington area. Then last Saturday we ended up with ten inches. That snow was light and rather easy to get off the car. The condo shoveled sidewalks - so it wasn't all that bad. Put on a crock pot of beef stew and just enjoyed it. Then they announced that we would get another 3-4" last night. Schools were closed but I had a delay - but still had to go in. Not too bad - just a nuisance! They say more is on the way this weekend!

ALA Midwinter in Boston

Well, this year in Boston was not nearly as cold as the last time ALA was in Boston! The schedule was shortened by a day, which made it very compressed. It was good to cut a day off, but it really did seem like things were jammed together. I was very busy with Council and BARC, along with facilitating the AASL candidates forum as Chair of the Nominating Committee.

But I really think I spent every spare moment preparing for my speech before the Council for the ALA Executive Board. I was running against three excellent candidates and then another was nominated from the floor. I was beginning to loose self-confidence! Maybe it was time to quit and let others do the work of ALA? I had lost the ALA Presidential election in 2008 - I lost the Executive Board election in 2009 - and now if I lost this that would be three in a row - and obviously someone was trying to tell me something - three strikes - and you're out. In my own defense, I did not do a good job last year - I just delivered the speech . I was not feeling well and that made all the difference. But here I was given another chance - and I rallied in the opportunity.

When I was notified in October that the Committee on Committees had nominated me again - I was shocked. I had no indication that I would be nominated. Finally, Monday arrived and speeches were after Council II So when I could, I reviewed my speech. At one point, a friend and fellow Councilor sitting next to me said "I don't care what you say - I'm going to vote for you!' That restored some self confidence! The speeches were all really good - and I felt it was a toss-up. Voted and waited - until around 8:00 for the results.

When Lois Ann Gregory called I could not believe that I was elected! Two candidates were elected - myself and Kevin Reynolds from Tennessee. Thank you to everyone who put their confidence in me! I am still so excited and looking forward to my new role in ALA with renewed energy to do the work of ALA. I've got time before my flight, so I'm going to observe the Executive Board in action. The rest of conference is a blur at the moment.

New Year's Resolutions

Obviously, I am one who helps make up the large percentage of the national average that does not keep their New Year's Resolutions - as proof from my last entry in January 2009 where I resolved to write on my blog - well, I didn't - but with this I hope to do better this year! Lets see how I do!

This time last year

This time last year I was in the middle of a very active campaign to be elected President of the American Library Association. I was flying around the country going to conferences, writing articles and fulling speaking engagements, while mailing brochures out to all the ALA Affiliates. Little did I know how sick I really was nor could I have imagined what would take place in the coming year. I think about this now as I just finished voting for this years' candidates for ALA President and hope that they are taking care of themselves and will remain healthy. Yes, I was disappointed at the loss as recorded on my Blog last May -- but I do believe that things happen for a reason -- just as it did this time. There is no telling what stage my health would be in had I kept pushing. But for now, I feel good, and can't believe I have CKD, even though my kidneys are only functioning at 18%. Good luck to everyone running for an ALA Office -- and if you haven't voted -- please vote for Roberta Stevens for ALA President

Happy New Year!!!

To all of you reading this I wish you a very Happy New Year and the best of everything to you as the year progresses. It has been far too long since I have been on my blog. But my New Year's resolution is to be more attentive to posting. It seems that the last six months have been filled with one challenge or another that left little time to post -- even though the process would have probably helped me through several incidents. Those of you that received my Christmas letter will better understand - I may decide to post that or just do a few updates. Either way - this is a new year to be greatful for! Enjoy and Celebrate!

Virtual Library Legislative Day!

Today is Virtual Library Day on the Hill! Go to www.capwiz.com/ala to write your Members of Congress about the importance of libraries. All of us at ALA conference in Anaheim have the opportunity to participate and I hope all of you will -- or have and at the break in Council today, I hope ALL Councilors will write their members of Congress.
We need librarians and library supporters from across the country to call attention to the value of today’s libraries, as well as the issues the library community is facing. This is especially important in an election year, as many of our nation’s legislators will be looking to hear from their constituents. This is our chance to make the library voice heard!
Virtual Library Day on the Hill is an amazing opportunity to showcase the value and importance of libraries to Members of Congress and let them know how important federal funding is to our nation’s libraries.

Click on the link above to go to
ALA's Legislative Action Center
See what library legislation is hot
Send a letter or fax to Congress
U.S. Capitol switchboard 202-225-3121

Thank you for your support of ALL libraries -- especially school libraries!

Another Health Update

The last two blood tests have remained the same which is encouraging, but I still have kidneys only functioning at 20-25%. I am on my way to annual conference and know it will be difficult with hotel food, etc., but I will do it! Not only do I have to virtually eliminate all sodium from my diet -- but potassium and phosphors as well. It is just a matter of making my kidneys work overtime to eliminate these minerals from my body. So if I put fewer of those minerals in -- the less they have to work to do their job and the longer they might continue working. Anybody outthere have an extra kidney to spare?

The Devastation Continues

As if the original two position eliminations wasn't bad enough -- or the next eleven wasn't bad enough - I now find that one more key employee is being transferred. Transferred??? Why you ask? There is no answer. That leaves nine employees to do what 23 were doing -- which originally 29 were doing. Through the last five years we have worked smarter and scaled down services and looked at new ways to do things. We had done all we could and staff had taken on as many new responsibilities as they could -- which of course increased their work time and hours but without additional help or compensation. And this is how dedication is rewarded? In addition to the 60% loss of staff we now can talk about the actual budget. The funding for the integrated library system was slightly reduced as was the database budget, but that we will be able to survive. But then when you add all the other budget line items, like equipment repair, new equipment, materials of instruction, professional library resources, professional development, etc., my budget was cut 92% -- no typo here -- 92% or in other words, I have 8% of the budget I had in previous years. Can this be real? Yes, it is! Once again the message is clear -- that libraries and the instructional value they add and their contribution to student achievement is not valued.

When It Rains It POURS!!!!

Feeling very good, I went to work this morning to an office of six departments employing 24 wonderful staff members. This afternoon when I left, it was raining, I felt miserable and so helpless as I left a devastated office where on July 15 there will only be 11 staff members. My county is experiencing the same financial shortfall that is happening all over the country and to balance the budget my office was reduced by more than half. The positions have been eliminated and just a month ago during the first round of cuts I lost two staff members. Total of 13 eliminated with only 11 left. To begin with it seems unfair and lopsided for my department to take a hit of over 15% of the cuts that central office received. Secondly, it sends a message loud and clear -- the library media program is not valued. And that is the very reason I came to this county nine years ago -- because they valued the library program and saw that the program was an integral part of the instructional process and that we made a difference in student achievement. Doesn't seem to be the case any longer!
All operations of Library Media Services were together in my department. My office which housed the instructional component, the Professional Library, Review and Evaluation Center, The Production Center, Acquisitions, and Technology for the Integrated Library system. All operations need to continue, but how one person, a few with a secretary, can continue to fulfill the responsibilities I have not figured out yet. Who will do them if we can't? Will they get done? Efficiently? Effectively? There is no doubt in my mind that those who made the cuts do not know what we do -- or do not understand what we do -- or do not want to understand what we do -- or do not care what we do -- or perhaps all of the above.
I feel the need to head to The Outer Banks to sort things out. The rain only made the gloom worse - I wanted to run an errand, but with the rain and traffic and my mood, I just turn around and headed home. But as I was driving home - I saw a beautiful full rainbow - and the rainbow when I first saw it ended right at my office building. I hope that was an omen that all the staff affected, who in my mind are wonderful valued employees will find that rainbow with a "pot of gold" waiting for them. There is a reason for everything -- I really do believe that -- but in this instance I haven't accepted this devastating blow!
Score: 13 for them - 0 for school libraries and our students!

Health Update

My primary care physician adjusted my medication in the three weeks I was waiting to see the specialist and I reduced my fluid intake and virtually cut out all sodium - down to under 500 mg a day. All that drastic change in my life style resulted in my blood pressure dropping when I stood up after sitting and at times if I stood too long - like grocery shopping. Then with the constant fatigue and dizziness I returned to my PCP. It seems I was dehydrated! Once again adjusting the medication made all the difference in the world -- the next day I felt better than I had in the previous three weeks. After seeing the specialist I was informed that my kidneys are functioning at 35% - not good. A week later another blood test was taken, which shown there had been another decrease, down to 30%. I was put on iron and medication to keep my bones from becoming brittle. And being the librarian that I am -- I got my hands on every piece of information I could -- I have even thought about starting another blog just dealing with CKD, as there seems to be a lot of us out there. Kidney disease caused by diabetes is the commonest cause of kidney failure requiring treatment by dialysis or kidney transplantation. I have been diabetic for 35 years. I will have a biopsy in July to determine/verify the cause. Last Wednesday I was told by the specialist that if the decline continued as it had been, I would need a transplant in three to six months. But to hold off contacting the centers for evaluation as she wanted another blood test, which I will have tomorrow, to see if things leveled off and my body adjusts. So in the meantime I am going to live each day to the fullest doing what I enjoy and what is important in life. As I feel good, the doctor approved my going to Anaheim for conference, which I will do -- so see you there!

Life Happens!

I have been complaining about periods of shortness of breath, swollen ankles with occasionally back pains for close to ten years now. I never seemed to get any satisfaction from my doctors -so last July after a really difficult episode, I changed doctors. She has been running me through every test known to man. And even though my last blood work was in May -- just two months before I saw her -- and I was told everything was fine, when she did the blood work, I ended up on medication for high blood pressure, high Cholesterol, and low thyroid function. Also a calcium supplement and continued with my daily vitamin and fluid pill. Last fall during a routine visit she mentioned that my kidney function was low and did a sonogram for blockage. As there was none, she recommended I see a specialist. Well, since last October, my time and energy went into the ALA Presidential Campaign leaving me little time to think of much else. I had a regular check-up appointment in April. While in Nags Head -- recovering from the campaign, (see a previous blog entry) I had a very difficult four days with very swollen ankles and a lot of difficulty breathing and even walking for a short distance. I had the follow-up appointment the Monday I returned and my blood work showed that my kidneys were functioning at 50% or less -- I was to go to a nephrologist (a kidney specialist). The specialist diagnosed me with Stage IV of Chronic Kidney Disease. Stage V is dialysis or transplant. I have been undergoing a lot of tests and will see what the future holds in mid-June. The CKD means reduced production of red blood cells -- and that with the heavy fluid retention accounts for the shortness of breath and anemia is a result of fewer red blood cells so I am exhausted most of the time -- fatigued is the better word -- which is not at all like me. I am sure this is more than anyone wants to know about my health -- but it has helped me by writing this. I plan to do as the doctor says and hope I can keep the disease in Stage IV for a very long time! But there are no answers at the moment. I also plan to be in Anaheim, but will certainly obey the doctors. I think I could be excused for missing one annual in thirty years!

The Christmas Shop

The "sparkle" is back on the Outer Banks! The Christmas Shop in Manteo, NC opened again after being closed for 2 and a half years! For those that might not know, the Christmas Shop and Art Gallery is a landmark on the Outer Banks and a "must go to" attraction. On Saturday, May 10, 2008 Edward Greene cut the ribbon to open his shop again. There is still much to be done but the look is the same and it felt so very familiar -- like it had never closed. There are still the theme trees and the Art Gallery, and lots of antiques, but there are also various shops within the shop and new features like a glass blower - a tee shirt shop - fudge and coffee by the Outer Banks Fudge Company - and the History shop featuring books about North Carolina run by Bruce and Cheryl Roberts who use to own the Lighthouse Gallery and Gifts in Nags Head. I can't wait to see the Christmas Shop in November when it will certainly be all decked out for the holiday that is its' namesake.

The Outer Banks of North Carolina

The Outer Banks are magical -- at least that is what I have always felt for the thirty-eight years I have been coming here. Through the years it has been the place I would go to sort out life's challenges and disappointments. A place to put things in perspective and figure out what to do or how to handle a particular situation. That is why, for now, I moved the saying at the end of my blog to the top right under the title. And through the years, even though I have seen unbelievable changes in the area, the ability to help me deal with life has not changed. Sitting on the beach looking out to the ocean can do wonders to clear my mind and prioritize what is important! That's why I am here this week and it didn't fail me this time, but provided me once again with a safe haven to get emotions out of the way so I could see things clearly and deal with the situation and move forward. Not winning the ALA Presidential election was a real disappointment but I am more disappointed for school libraries and youth services than I am for myself. But as the week has passed, I know I will not stop fighting for school libraries and having school and youth services librarians be an integral part of ALA. I have even been able to think through the debt I incurred and how I will pay it off in under two years! Might not be traveling much or buying anything other than necessities, but I can make it work. And when all is said and done, I enjoyed the experience, learned a lot, met many wonderful people that I hope will remain friends and had a lot of fun. Once again thank you for the opportunity and your kind words.