RSS Feeds

I've known about RSS feeds for probably five years, if not more. I tried subscribing to a few a couple of times, but I rarely read them and never really saw much reason for them. I just didn't get the point. I think I was searching for feeds just to be taking part in something. I wasn't really grasping the idea.

Now, nearly a month after my spring classes have ended, I would consider myself somewhat addicted to my RSS feeds. One of the assignments we had for my Teaching and Learning in a Digital Environment (TLDE) class was to check out a few blogs in our field. I found a few that were okay, but others in my class suggested a couple others that I found more interesting. In the process, though, something really cool happened. One of my two instructors pointed out the Reader feature offered by Google. Once you've got an account with Google, you can do a ton of different things, and one of those things is consolidating all the RSS feeds you subscribe to in one Reader. (Basically, just one location where you can read any updates on a daily basis--it's kind of like you create your own online newspaper, with 'articles' focusing on things you're interested in.)

For example, I've got a few different headings on my Reader setup: Cooking, Library, Family and Friends, and Spiritual. I have a number of blogs I follow or subscribe to, and I've got them organized into those different categories. The Reader automatically files the updates for me under the categories I've specified. I also follow a few other sites that don't go under any of those headings, but that also give regular updates (there's a Dilbert Daily Comic Strip, The Urban Dictionary's Word of the Day, and my daughter's middle school puts out a daily bulletin, to name a few).

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication.  (If you notice, I have embedded a link into the "RSS" at the beginning of this paragraph. Click on that link to head to a Wikipedia definition and history of RSS feeds.) Many sites have daily or periodic updates that you can follow. In the top of your screen, on the right side of your browser line, if you see the symbol below, you can follow those updates just by clicking on that icon.

 

I wouldn't say that I read every single update every single day, but I do try to follow some of my updates pretty regularly. It's such a neat feature, I can't get enough of it! Google Reader is not, by far, the only way to subscribe to and/or consolidate your RSS feeds. It's one of probably hundreds, at least. However, when I was first subscribing to feeds, I didn't access them very frequently at all. I've found that the Google Reader is extremely user friendly, and I've got it saved as one of my home pages, so I can go there at the beginning of the day every day without any trouble at all. I just click on the "home" icon on my browser, and my Reader opens with all the latest updates.

If you aren't subscribing to any RSS feeds, I'd suggest you check it out. It's super cool! And if you ARE following some good feeds, feel free to message me about them. Thanks!

**Note: It seems that the RSS symbol or icon is no longer showing up in the browser line on either Internet Explorer or Firefox (I don't know about other browsers); but if you're looking at a site that has regular updates, most authors want you to have the ability to subscribe to those updates and they make that icon available as a hot link somewhere on their page. Look for that orange symbol I installed above.**

Going Green

     I must admit, every time I hear the term "going green", I think about that scene in the movie, "Twister", when the series of tornadoes is about to hit. I can relate, living in Nebraska, to that scene so well. There's no other way to describe how everything really does go green. It's bizarre, and they actually were able to re-enact that pretty well in the movie. It's one of my favorite movies, without a doubt!

     But I'm not wanting to write about tornadoes today. My excitement about "going green" refers to the fact that we have just recently increased our recycling capacity. Before, we only recycled newspapers, aluminum cans, and the occasional cardboard box. Jim and I were pretty much in agreement: it's not that hard to take those items to the recycle bins behind our local grocery store every few months. (Especially since it was usually Jim doing it!) Still, there was always a part of me that felt like we could be doing more. I think we both wanted to do more... we were just holding out for the best deal, I guess. (Yes, that's right, I'm painting a clear picture for you: we wanted the cheapest, laziest way possible to do the recycling. Ugh, that sounds horrible... luckily, I know we're not the only ones who are in that boat!)

     So we got the call last week from the people who publish our local newspaper, saying they were having a special--they'd bring us a "tote" (cute word for big ugly plastic garbage can like the other ones we already have, only this one is, appropriately, green), and we can dump all of the stuff we want to recycle into it without having to separate it first, and for the first six months, it's available at an incredibly low cost. What? You mean you're going to give us a cheap option to be even more lazy AND we're going to feel GOOD about it? That's right, for a limited time, you too can help the environment without stepping further than your own driveway. Coool!!!!  

     Okay, I know I'm sounding pessimistic... I'm just amazed at how little I was willing to do before we got that green tote. Saving cans and newspapers? The absolute minimum. Seriously. Today was the first full day we've had that tote, and I recycled a milk jug, a large juice bottle, about 10 old magazines, an old prescription bottle (with all the information marked out with a Sharpie), two used water bottles, and a yogurt cup, along with today's paper and two pop cans. Let me tell you, I feel GOOD about this! Beer bottles and wine bottles, old chocolate syrup containers, ice cream buckets, soup and tuna cans, etc. It seems like the possibilities are limitless. I'm so pumped! 

     I started recycling as a kid. We didn't drink as much pop, growing up, as Jim and I do now. It was mostly on special occasions that we'd get 10 or 12 cans of Shasta in the house (mmm, Black Cherry and Dr. Diablo were my favorites!), but we had enough beer cans to keep me busy. Every few days, I'd take the cans out to the garage, squash them with my feet, and toss them into an old garbage can (the original steel kind, like you see Oscar the Grouch living in) lined with a black plastic bag. When that bag got full (after a few months), I'd tie off the top, put a new bag in, and keep going. About once a year, maybe twice if I was lucky, I'd point out to my Dad that we had several bags of cans to turn in. Since I was the one who took the cans out and crushed them, I was the one who got the money for them. We'd make a trip into the closest town with a recycling center (my hometown didn't have one), and the guys would weigh out my bags. It usually got me about seven bucks, though I do remember earning $11 one time! I was pumped! This was typically enough bread to get me a new record (vinyl) or maybe even a new Barbie (since they only released new models of Barbies about once or twice a year). 

     Nowadays, I have to PAY to recycle, but I'm done playing with Barbies and I don't have a turntable anymore, anyway. So it's all good.....

Bubba

I don't think I've devoted much, if any, space here on my blog to our sweet little puppy. We had a dog when the girls were very little (Phoebe, a black lab/retriever mix), but she was too big for our small house/yard, so we gave her to some friends who lived out in the country, on a big farm. She lived there, very happily, for many years. During that time, we discovered Josie is not only allergic to cats (as are Jim and I), but she's also allergic to dogs. Once we moved to our current home, we thought, "Someday, we'll find the right kind of dog--one Josie won't be allergic to."

In the meantime, Donovan came along. We were a busy, happy little family with our two daughters and one son. Every now and then, we would get to thinking about having a dog, but it was just never the right time. About a year, maybe a year and a half ago, though, we started to think about it a bit more seriously. We knew we'd need to wait until Donovan was potty-trained, and, like I'd said, we'd want to find a "hypo-allergenic" dog.

In October of this past fall, we finally found the perfect dog--a Bichon Frise puppy. Plus, a month or so before, we'd heard that Phoebe had died, out on the farm. We were saddened to hear of her passing, but it felt like it was a sign that we could move on. So, Jim, Josie and Donovan went to "meet" the puppy, to make sure Josie wouldn't have any bad reactions to him--of course, they fell in love!

So, we've had Bubba (a name I probably wouldn't have chosen for him, but I can appreciate irony as much as the next person, and it fits him now) for just over five months, and he is definitely a part of the family. I'd have to say he's a Momma's boy, which makes sense since I spend the most time with him (being a stay-at-home-mom). We haven't taken him to puppy training or anything like that... I think it's still up in the air whether we will or not. He's a good boy, though, and he behaves pretty well without "official training".

After I took him in to get groomed, he looked so malnourished, I've been afraid to do it again!

One of my favorite things about him is the way he sometimes does this kind of hop-run, when he's really in a hurry--our back yard is pretty big, so he's got a lot of room to run around. Normally, he'll do the alternate leg thing (y'know, right front paw goes at the same as left rear paw, and left front paw moves in time with right rear paw). But when he's in a hurry, his front paws move in sync and his rear paws move in sync, so it kind of looks like he's hopping or leaping along. So totally cute!

I also love the way he attacks certain things. He's really a very sweet, gentle dog, but he is still a puppy and there's definitely a part of him that feels like he needs to be fierce. There are three items, in particular, that he will attack. His bed (really just a big doggie pillow), his little blue elephant (it always seems like he's punishing the elephant for something!), and his big green squeaky toy. We have to put the squeaky toy up in the evenings, when the girls are working on homework or we're trying to watch TV, because the loud squeaks combined with his intense growling... it's funny for a minute, then it's annoying trying to hear over it!

Took this one today--can you tell he needs a haircut? But he's so adorable!

He also does this cute thing with his paws, either while sitting on his hind legs, or while lying on his side, where he waves both his front paws together repeatedly... Almost like he was flipping through folders in a file cabinet. When he's on his hind legs, he'll do it sitting, or he kind of stands and hops for a while, upright, while doing it. It's really cute. I think it's his "Come play with me, pay attention to me" move.

My absolute favorite thing is snuggling with Bubba. I'm a napper. I've always been a napper, even as a kid. Whenever I can squeeze one in, I will. Oftentimes, I'll lie down on the couch, get all cozy with my favorite pink fleece blanket, and here comes Bubba! He climbs right up on me, stepping where he may, and he'll sometimes lie right on top of me. I nuzzle his hair a bit, and then he'll look into my face for a bit before doing one of those reverse sniffs dogs do. (He sniffs in a bit, then blows right back out, with a little more force.) Most times, though, he'll curl up at my feet or between my chest and my arm, and I'll pet him 'til I drift off to sleep. He's my Bubba!

"You don't LOOK like a librarian!"

Okay, before I begin, I have to comment on the fact that it is an absolute delight having this little puppy in our house. We've had Bubba since mid-October of last year (2010), and he's simply a joy to have around. He's a bit of a spaz, sure, but aren't all dogs? (And honestly, aren't people kind of spazzy, too?) But he's so loveable and sweet and cute and well-behaved. BIG BONUS is that Josie's not allergic to him. We're all happy with him. I'll admit, it was a bit stressful when we first got him, but he's grown accustomed to us and us to him. I love my little puppy, who is definitely a Momma's Boy! (I have to admit, though, it IS a bit difficult writing this on my laptop while he's sitting so close to me--he puts his head on the computer and he keeps moving the cursor on the mouspad. Oh well... it's nice to snuggle with him.

Now, I have to address this because it just cracks me up:

Ever since I decided to go back to school, whenever I tell people I'm studying to be a librarian, someone always says "You don't LOOK like a librarian." Hmm.... This begs the question: WHAT does a librarian look like? I've looked up the word "librarian" in the dictionary, but there's no accompanying picture. That's not much help. So I go to the library and look around. Funny, I never noticed it before, but none of the librarians look alike. I can't figure out which one of them, then, "looks like a librarian". Nobody's wearing a nametag that says "Librarian" on it, and I haven't been able to figure out the standard "Librarian" uniform--some of the folks behind various desks are wearing jeans and t-shirts or sweaters, others wear dressier slacks and tops. I've seen both men and women working in the libraries, checking out books, working the reference desk, shelving books. Men and women who aren't related typically don't look alike, so the very fact that both genders work as librarians confuses me: which one of these is more likely to LOOK like a librarian? Once you narrow down a gender, what hair color, skin color, body shape, mannerisms, etc., does a librarian have?

Here's a librarian I wouldn't mind looking like! Marian the Librarian, from the Music Man.

Oh! Then I start thinking, when those folks said I don't look like a librarian, there's an underlying statement there (or there could be): namely, I must look like something else. What is it that I look like, then? I'm curious. Do I look like a doctor? A teacher? Perhaps a fireman? Or is it more complicated than that? Maybe I look like an out-of-work hairdresser? (I wish!)

Marisa Tomei's character in My Cousin Vinny was an out-of-work hairdresser.

I read a blog recently about how someone was hoping to get hired as a librarian, and one of the reasons she was hoping to be hired was because she was a "hipster" (whatever that is) and I guess she wanted to improve the image people have of librarians. I understand that, to a certain extent. But at the same time, it's kind of a crock. What difference does it make what a librarian looks like, as long as they're able to do their job effectively? I still haven't decided if I'm perturbed or amused by the comment that I don't look like a librarian...

Pros and Cons of Snow Days

We've already had four snow days this year (unless I'm mistaken--pretty sure it was two days in a row two weeks or so ago, and then two days in a row this week). Last year we went over our "quota" for snow days, so the kids had to make some of the time up. They extended their school days before and after school by a few minutes, for about two weeks. It made for a rushed day and kind of cramped some of their after-school activities, but it sure beat trying to add those days to the end of the year! (Or taking time off of Spring Break, etc.) While I don't think we've had as much snow as we did last year (at least, not yet), we're close to our limit on snow days. The school system here sets aside five days per school year. So hopefully, if they have any more snow days, there'll be only one. 

The kids and I all get excited when there's going to be a snow day, and yet, we end up kind of looking forward to when they go back to school. So I'm going to list the pros and cons of snow days.

Pros

• A day off from school

• The opportunity to sleep in (at least in theory, it doesn't always work out that way for Mom)

• Relaxed atmosphere in the morning, which is not what it's like on school days (we're busy as bees in the mornings as we get ready--each girl has her own start-time at school, and there's lunches to get ready, papers to be signed, hats and gloves to be found, teeth to be brushed at the last minute, etc.)
• No rushing around in the afternoon, picking kids up from various school locations
• Time to do extra stuff we don't normally squeeze in (the other day it was painting and baking cookies, sometimes it's pla-doh, watching movies, playing dress-up, etc.)
• Extra time together--I know this sounds kind of corny, but I love spending time with my kids, even when they get under my skin, even when part of me wants to sneak away on my own mini-vacation for a day. My kids light up my life, and I'm pumped whenever they're home unexpectedly.

Cons

• Our schedules get thrown off--not only are we lazy during those snow days (whether or not we sleep in), but we don't run by the same schedule... so going back to our regular routine (even if we've only had one snow day) takes a little adjustment.
• Boredom. I know I listed a bunch of stuff we can do, and we often do all those things within the space of about an hour, and then it's "ho, hum, what can we do now?" or, worse, "can I have something to eat?" We're all subject to eating out of boredom, and it's really bad when I didn't shop for groceries anticipating the snow days! (read: less snack foods and 'fun' lunch items) It was particularly bad this time, as it was not only super snowy, but it was also too cold to go outside. (Wind chills were well below zero, and it's just dangerous going out for any amount of time then.)
• Of course, boredom leads to irritability. Everyone gets on each other's nerves, everyone wants to play on the computer at the same time, or they argue over which Wii game to play, or they can't agree on a movie, or they're not playing the pretend game the right way, etc. There's a lot of whining and yelling and door slamming, and there's a fair amount of crying, too. (None of it by me, this time, but it's always something I reserve the right to do!)
• The threat of having to make up work. This isn't a huge deal, in my opinion or in the kids' opinion. If they have to make it up, so be it. We work it out. But it is a con, and it's worth mentioning.

Overall, I think we prefer having the snow days, despite the cons. It's nice to have a break in the routine, a little chance to shake things up a bit. But, like summer vacation, it's nice when they go back to school! I always laugh at myself, the way I wish for breaks like summer or Christmas or snow days, and then in the middle of them, I'm counting down to when the kids will go back to school. I think it's the curse of a woman to never be fully happy with what we've got. I do my best to try, though.  =D