Today was my first day back to the library since March 13. I was so anxious in the morning, I had to make myself eat breakfast because I didn't feel hungry at all. I think it is the most nervous I have been in a long time.

But it all went well. We were all so happy to be around other people. My voice is hoarse from talking all day. Wearing a mask got annoying by the end, but honestly wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

We got most of the things set up for curbside service next week and my crack scheduling team planned out how we would cover all the services with the limited staff we have.

So I left feeling a lot less nervous about things. Obviously when we do open to the public, that will change things, but I am really hoping that gets put off until July. There's just a lot to figure out and many of the supplies we ordered to help create social distancing and make safe spaces have not arrived yet.

But, yeah, I'm feeling ok about going back tomorrow.

And I've already decided on Wednesday we are taking an extended lunch and all going to the ice cream shop down the road because I am the manager and I can do that. We all need a treat this week.

...it was also kind of good to be away from the news for the day, even though seeing everything right now as I get ready for bed is not helpful for sleep but being caught up in getting the library up and running was a welcome distraction.

Poor America. I'm not sure what will come of any of this...at this point, I've seen too many mass shootings with protests and police brutality with protests where nothing changed...it is hard to believe things will change, especially with this asshat sitting in the white house.

Going to sleep now. Stay safe. This entry was originally posted at https://orangerful.dreamwidth.org/1362077.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

Well, if this whole pandemic has taught (or retaught?) me anything, it is that I am a creature of habit to the nth degree.

There was a reason that I had perfect attendance all through elementary, middle and high school. There was a reason I never get any better at my instrument.
There was a reason I went to every single class, lecture and lab in college.

If I’m not in a work environment, I am awful at doing work.

I am the kind of person that keeps their home life and work life as separate as I can. I mean, yes, most of my friends are from work, but I never bring work home with me and I rarely let it bleed into my every day life. I’m lucky like that, it is what attracted me to my job. I work 9-5 (and once a week 1-9) and then I am done. When I go on vacation, I will look at my work email and scan it for any emergencies (now that I’m a manager) but my staff knows to text me if there is something urgent because otherwise I am not working when I’m off.

So being at home and trying to work from home has been a challenge. Especially since when the library first shut down, we were just stuck in a holding pattern, with very little we needed to do apart from updating the signage when our closing dates were extended. And now that the date is finally feeling tangible, I’m starting to panic? Because I know there are things I need to do and get done and suddenly it feels like I need to get everything done right now even though I have a month but the way April flew by, a month seems like nothing.

When I’m at work, I am more self-motivated but apparently at home, I have little to no motivation because I have programmed myself to feel like being at home means time to relax. And I really don’t want to throw that off?

I may attempt to create some kind of schedule for next week, force myself to get up, do work. Because here is the thing, I think I am most productive from 9am-11am when I’m at work but when I am at home and have nowhere to be, I naturally sleep until 10:30am so therefore, though I feel well rested, I have missed my productive hours and tend to not want to do anything. (normal workday usually has me in my office from 9-1, eating lunch from 1-2, and then usually working on the desk or mingling with staff from 2-5 so you can see how my internal clock is set up already).

Anyway, how are you all holding up? Hope you’ve had better luck finding your work-from-home groove. Or, at the very least, reading this post makes you feel less alone in your struggle. ❤

I leave you with the tweet that inspired this introspective post:

pic.twitter.com/6IkDgzYkYj

— David Tomlinson (@EvilSoupdragon) May 2, 2020

This entry was originally posted at https://orangerful.dreamwidth.org/1360867.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

First day was a success! Thank you to everyone who left me positive vibes in the last entry.

It was weird, driving in today, I felt...good. Confident. Like, fuck yeah, I did this, I'm ready for this!

Not cocky, I know I don't know a LOT but I feel like I know I can do this. It was a good feeling.

I got to work and the staff had already prepared my office:

( Read more...Collapse )

This entry was originally posted at https://orangerful.dreamwidth.org/1327919.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

ACK! Forgot my last selfie!



That's my manager, my mentor, and my hero. Happy retirement, Karen!

She already had a local bike trip and a cross country trip planned starting right away. She never sits still, that one.

This entry was originally posted at https://orangerful.dreamwidth.org/1326355.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

I'm the only person in the world who is not interested in Avengers:Endgame, but I'm happy for all of you.

I just hope you're ready for all of my fangirling and squealing when December comes around and Rise of Skywalker comes out. I understand your feelings, MCU fans, and I will have similar feelings once RoS premieres.

I had 14 people come to my photo program! For an adult program on a gorgeous spring day, I'm counting that as a success!

I'm low-key freaking out right now because TWO branch managers (one of them being MY manager) have announced their retirements on June 30th. Which means there will be TWO openings I can apply for. I feel good about it, I just have to not flub the interview like I did last time (though I don't think that was meant to be, so maybe it was the universe holding me back). No idea when the interviews will be, kinda hoping they will happen sooner rather than later, mostly because I don't want my poor branch to be floating without a manager for the whole summer.

I'll be high-key freaking out once a date is announced. Good news is that my resume is pretty much ready to go! Just need to tweak the cover letter and then review my notes like crazy.

This entry was originally posted at https://orangerful.dreamwidth.org/1312283.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

Posts are going up at crossovercoffee if you want to check it out!

I even participated and it felt so good! I made a little graphic, but after making the image, I was inspired to write a quick little ficlet/drabble (I'm not really good with fanfic terms) of what was going through my head while I was working on it.

Tonight is my "Organizing Your Digital Photos" program at the library. The weather has been GORGEOUS so I'm a little worried people won't remember because nice weather + longer days = walks in the park. But maybe they will just walk to the library! Anyway, wish me people!

This entry was originally posted at https://orangerful.dreamwidth.org/1312177.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

Computers at work are STILL down, but they actually have people working on it now. Outside people. So that gives me faith that they might be done before 2019! But they are working in our branch tomorrow so I might be internet-less the whole day. #firstworldproblems

I did not get the branch manager position I interviewed for. I had a weird vibe from the whole thing, my manager was sad for me but then she talked to me afterwards and said that she really didn't think I would be happy there. My husband agreed (he works in the same library system, FYI). So, it was good practice, it put me out there and plus I learned some *new* questions to prepare for next time. I was sad because rejection always hurts but now I'm just so happy to be able to move forward!

...well, as far forward as I can move with no email at work. Ugh, I feel so crippled! My desk was hilariously covered in post-it notes today because none of us have email so we are just leaving notes for each other.

To top everything off, I have a cold. Not awful, but just stuffy all the time.

Going to a morale boosting gathering tomorrow after work, a margarita will be involved so I will probably not take any cold medication tomorrow afternoon LOL. I need a drink more than I need a decongestant right now, that's all I'm saying.

Anyway, sorry I'm so behind on everyone's entries but, yeah, my inability to goof off for a few moments at work by looking at blogs has really made me fall behind!

This entry was originally posted at https://orangerful.dreamwidth.org/1283374.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

Welp, our computers at work continue to be screwed. They do have someone working on it all though, but we are discouraged from logging in to a wired device while at work until they have definitely cleaned everything. Which means I don't get to sneak a peak at LJ/DW like I usually do when I have a few minutes of down time and need to relax. So I got a little bit behind this week, just did a speed read of everyone's posts but sorry if I didn't comment.

And because of the computers being down, they haven't said anything about the job I interviewed for. Cue me going CRAZY wondering! Honestly, it was stressing me out so much this week I kinda made myself sick on Thursday. I don't know how to feel about it all, but I'm afraid to start planning stuff for work because what if I got it?? That would mean I would need to switch gears and start training other staff to do my jobs...and it all boils down to the fact that HR can't email out the rejection noticed because email is compromised. :|

And now for something completely different -- Anyone play DON'T STARVE TOGETHER and want to team up? We used to play the game on our group game night but now that our friend got a new job (yay for him!) we had to cancel our game nights. Tim has been playing Star Citizen with some new online friends but i honestly cannot stand that game so I was hoping to start playing but I'm too shy to just jump in to a bunch of randos. I'm honestly not that good at the game so I don't want to get in trouble. Let me know if you would be interested!

Aaaaand it's almost 11. I'm going to read for a bit and then pass out because today was a day and this week has been a week. Toodle pip!

This entry was originally posted at https://orangerful.dreamwidth.org/1283208.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

So, just got back from the interview for the manager position.

I was not thrilled with how it went, the questions were...not my favorite. I didn't feel like they lent themselves to personal examples as much as I wanted and I ended up stressing over the actual answers more than I should have. I do not have the positive feeling in my gut like I did after my last interview.

Good news is that I love my job right now so if I don't get this promotion, it's not a huge deal, just kind of a bummer.

But I could use a little boost this afternoon as I'm working 1-9 so tell me a joke or show me a silly gif or something. Virtual hugs are also appreciated. #needy yeah?

This entry was originally posted at https://orangerful.dreamwidth.org/1281872.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

Welp, we just lost four staff to the plague today. And we have programs, so many programs, this week. So, because I am me (even though my nose has been running since yesterday which better just be due to the weather/pressure and not a cold!) I am picking up Babies in Bloom tomorrow and throwing together a Valentine's program for Wednesday.

Wish me luck!!!!!!

Also, GET THE FLU SHOT IF YOU CAN!

Now, because the program was called "BEE My Valentine" I need to go find some bee related rhymes for Wednesday. TO PINTEREST!

This entry was originally posted at https://orangerful.dreamwidth.org/1261356.html. Please comment there using OpenID.