My Beautiful Month

In case you aren't on Instagram, or don't follow me, here's a peek at my Insta-Life lately.
[*All photos are taken from my Instagram account.]

My step father-in-law turned 61. Time to celebrate!

We're getting Easter eggs. It's so ombre.

One of my favorite childhood memories.

Fun with all things Under the Sea at work.

Enjoying a 60+ degree day with a walk through the park. Mr. Darcy was beyond excited.

My traditional gnocchi Oscars meal. (My food was much better than the Oscars....)

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

Yes, I'm a Children's Librarian

Hello!

I haven't highlighted my work escapades in a while, and since it was my turn in the rotation to cover the main library's children's desk this past Sunday, let's talk about it.

Indeed, I worked. On a Sunday. On Valentine's Day. At the library.

I'm willing to bet some of you never suspected librarians work on Sundays. Well, I'm here to tell you some of us do.

At my library, the main branch is opened 1-5 p.m. on Sundays, starting after Labor Day through Memorial Day. (Can I get an AMEN for no summer Sundays?!!) There are 12 of us in the children's department, and we rotate through. Lately the teens have been coming in full force, and since their hangout area is separate from the children's, two of us are manning the desks instead of only one. This is so nice. One more of us to answer questions, keep an eye on things, and to not feel so lonesome during those four hours.

This past Sunday I worked with the teen librarian, Sarah. I love Sarah. Sarah was not feeling well at all. Poor Sarah. Thankfully, she was able to relax a little since there was nobody in her area. There was nobody in my area. Because it was Valentine's Day. Monday was President's Day. There was a snow storm coming. Normally this would have been a very, very long four hours. However, Sarah kept me company, and we chatted about home life, work life, upcoming programs and conferences, and yes, SUMMER READING! It will be here before you know it, y'all. (I am stoked for this year's theme!)

This particular Sunday was dead. Sloooow. I didn't see a single child or parent in my area until after 2 p.m. Maybe two other families the remainder of the day... one asked about a library card, the other helped their kids on the early literacy computers for about half an hour.

This allowed me plenty of time to get ahead on some upcoming programs. I peeled crayons. I peeled more crayons. Next Tuesday I'm having a Crayon Love Bake program for school-aged kiddos. We take old peeled crayons, break them up, place them in silicone molds, and bake them in the oven, re-purposing them into new crayons. I have snowmen and heart molds for this one. I did this program four years ago around Christmas and I had a bunch of boys. Who would have thought? It takes between 20-30 minutes for the crayons to melt, depending on their thickness, and the boys were bored out of their mind while they waited. And they got into trouble. This time I have a few library scavenger hunts planned and a snack to keep the kids entertained.

Other things I did on Sunday ---> read through a few new books, searched Amazon for some yoga tools/equipment for future programs, perused Pinterest for craft ideas, jotted down summer reading program ideas, and peeled more crayons.

This was a complete turn around from the last Sunday I worked back in January. There were so many kids and families and questions, I didn't get any actual work done. I had a bunch of kids asking for biographies because there was an assignment due that week. Someone was always at the computers, all working on homework, except one child playing games. The printer was in constant use. I had quite a few parents in looking for chapter books and popular series for their children. There was screaming, a few arguments over the computer, and one child kept dumping out all the crayons. Puzzles were out, displayed books were either gone or askew, and of course there were hardly any winter or hibernation books left on the shelf for the one teacher who came in looking for them because all of the other teachers had them. It's nice to see people of all ages still wait to the last minute.

On that Sunday I worked with Nicole, and she was just as busy in the teen center. I was hoping to chat with her a bit, but I only saw her once the entire four hours... when she ran over to the children's department to sharpen a handful of pencils. Thank goodness we had two people that day!

Thus, when you work a Sunday downtown, you never know what covering the desk will bring. I always make sure I bring work to do and a sweater.

And caffeine.


With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

My Beautiful Month

In case you aren't on Instagram, or don't follow me, here's a peek at my Insta-Life lately.
[*All photos are taken from my Instagram account.]

 Corgi Selfie!

Early evening naps.

 One of my toddler mom's and her daughter made a get-well bag for me when I was feeling under the weather. This put a huge smile on my face <3

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

My Beautiful Month

In case you aren't on Instagram, or don't follow me, here's a peek at my Insta-Life lately.
[*All photos are taken from my Instagram account.]

While Christmas shopping, we found a humane shelter giving tree and bought a bunch of gifts for the little guy, Mr. Zub. A new tradition started!

Mr. B, these CAVS seats are excellent!

My first finished adult coloring page. It's so PRETTY!

Book Club + Hot Chocolate Bar = Good Times

FAREWELL, 2015!

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

Cookies for Days

Not to brag, but Jess and I are getting really good at this whole baking extravaganza cookie thing.

Two years running now, we succeeded in making dozens of cookies without any major disasters. No burnt Pretzel Bark, no forgotten ingredients, no cookies in a heap on the floor, no time-consuming meals, and no major messes (well almost, you see, flour is tricky thing...).

This eighth(!) year was a roaring success. At the end of the day, we had 10 different cookies and one bark. Oh, and a couple scars.

Ouch!

Yes, if I could sum up this year's baking day with one word, "ouch" along with a few other choice words comes to mind.

And it's a new word for us. We might have been picking up cookies from the floor for years and cleaning flour off the walls and breaking utensils, but we're pretty good at knowing things are hot.

Apparently, I forgot this at 9 am when we started making the Brown Butters. I think the name itself is warning enough. Yet, when I decided to remove the saucepan full of boiling browned butter from the stove so it wouldn't burn I forgot. I continued to stir. I continued to chat. And then some splattered out of the pan and onto my barefoot. Oh my mother-loving stars!

First off, I have to admit, this is the first baking extravaganza not to require socks or thick slippers because it's 60 freaking degrees outside. In December! In Ohio! How are we supposed to chill our extra dough if there's no snow?! Why is it not cold enough to let the bark set up outside, and instead I have to shove it in my freezer, where there is no room because Mr. B thought a half empty freezer is no good and he must stock it with meat the day before our cookie baking madness?! But I digress.

Thank you, Jesus, for lavender oil. When I was finally able to form decent coherent words, Jessica handed me the oil and I rubbed it all over the top of my foot. Within the hour the burn was gone, the mark was gone, and I was beyond grateful in a happy dance form. I was lucky, however, Jessica was not. I'm going to blame it on her pregnant brain, but she too forgot hot things are hot. Baking sheets straight from a hot oven are hot. Yeah, she pulled a Brindi. I still have the scars from last July. I'm sure she will have the scar this time next year; it's bigger and angrier. Ouch! Unfortunately, the lavender oil only soothed her. It's funny how sensitive the skin on our forearm truly is. It's also funny the words that come out of our lady mouths.

Other than the pain, we had quite the sugar-filled, fun day. The Brown Butters turned out to be the tastiest ones we've made in a while, and Mr. B can attest to said tastiness. Definitely. In fact we even tripled the batter, giving us well over 175 of these bite-sized cookies. The first cookies started, the last ones finished. As we were frosting these bad boys, Mr. B kept walking by and grabbing them. Soon I realized he was eating them faster than I was frosting them. I had to tell him to stop because we had them counted and still had to divide them up. Jessica gave me a this-is-why-we-do-it-at-my-house look. As Monica says, I know!

In the end, we ended up with 80 Brown Butters each. Yet, it was odd. When I got home from work the next evening there were only 30 of these delectable cookies in the entire house. These 30 now reside in the back of the freezer. Mr. B is verbally not happy about this.

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

My Beautiful Month

In case you aren't on Instagram, or don't follow me, here's a peek at my Insta-Life lately.
[*All photos are taken from my Instagram account.]

Too many books and not enough time. True story.

'Tis the season for hot chocolate, and Starbucks puts crack in theirs. (Well, don't quote me on that, but it's sooo good. I'm sooo addicted.)

Magic Tree House madness at work.

Playing this on the radio?!?!?! Yesssssss!

Oh, I bought a new car. Meet Tara. Tara, this is everyone. (Bonus points if you know her namesake.)

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

My Beautiful Month

In case you aren't on Instagram, or don't follow me, here's a peek at my Insta-Life lately.
[*All photos are taken from my Instagram account.]

Having a little fun with a co-worker's office :)

Daddy and I on our coffee date, about to get our GARTH BROOKS on.

Homemade apple butter season.

Not quite the morning person dog.

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi