Monthly Archives: August 2009

Summer reading

Burnt out? Me?

Yes, it’s true, as any of you who read this blog might have already guessed from the lack of entries lately: I’m a bit burnt out.  Just a bit – not dreadfully, horribly so, but a bit.

The summer reading program has been going fantastically well, which means that I’ve been fantastically busy.  Lots and lots of children and adults have been coming in to the children’s room to check in with me about their summer reading, and I’ve also had lots of conversations with library patrons about summer in general.  I’ve definitely noticed that many more families stayed in town this summer than in the past three summers, and as a consequence the library has been significantly more busy than ever before.

I love people, and I love talking with people, but I am definitely an introvert: I regain my mental energy from time spent alone, even though I love being social, too.  Yesterday evening I got home about 7 PM, and at first I was disappointed that Jim wasn’t home yet (mostly ’cause I was really hungry, but also ’cause I kind of like Jim).  And then I settled down belly-first on our bed, next to the open window, with the freshly-delivered newest copy of This Old House magazine, and realized that what I needed more than anything was a little bit of quiet time after nine hours of busyness at the library.  It was great (that and the junk food dinner that I talked Jim into once he got home) and I felt more refreshed than I have in a while.

But I’m definitely ready for a vacation – and summer vacation starts for me next Friday.  I’ll be taking two weeks off in a row for the first time ever in my working life, I think, and I can’t wait to restore, rejuvenate, and refresh over those two weeks.  And as my whim dictates, I’ll be posting summer reading entries to this blog, filling in those gaps that I’ve missed over the past few weeks: summaries of great performances at the library, comments on the books I’ve read, updates on the book groups that met over the summer, and any summer anecdotes that come to mind.

And now I’m going to indulge in the ultimate antidote for a burnt-out children’s librarian: I’m going to take a nice, long walk on this stunningly gorgeous day.  By myself, of course!

Etc., Spare time - Culture

Lemonade

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One major side benefit to me not tutoring anymore is that I’m actually inspired to cook sometimes now.  I’ve made mustard-crusted chicken (yummy!), chicken fajitas, salads that have stuff in them besides lettuce, and a beef and corn casserole (which Jim loved and I only sort of liked).  Next time Jim has band practice, I plan on making Fettucine with Bitter Greens (I can guarantee that Jim won’t be a fan of that recipe).

Today’s project was homemade lemonade.

I guess I never thought much about lemonade before; it’s so easy to buy a pre-made bottle and be done with it.  But Idylwilde Farm had a special on lemons yesterday, so I bought five and thought, “What the heck.  I’ll make lemonade.”  I used the recipe in Joy of Cooking, got my sugar water all boiled last night and cooled for today, and then went at it.  And the lemonade was actually pretty good, though I’d prefer that it was a little less sweet, a little more lemony, and that it didn’t use salt.  Looking in my Fannie Farmer Cookbook, I see that recipe uses a different approach to the sugar and water, and has no salt and more lemon juice.  I’ll try that one next, but…here’s my question to all of you:  do you have a favorite lemonade recipe?  And are you willing to share it?  Add your recipes to the comments!