Trying to be positive

Still tired of all of this, but I am determined to be only positive for this bookworm. 

On Wednesday I “attended” a webinar focused on the Summer Reading Program grant I received.  Changes and encouraged amendments were discussed in the light of potential continued impact from Covid-19.  I did not feel positive after the meeting.  I discussed my initial feelings with Kelly, one of our Children’s librarians, and left with a feeling I hadn’t had for a few weeks.  I felt excited about the future and ready for the challenge it would present.  The feeling of inspiration had been missing from my life since about March 17th. 

I wish I could say that I left that day and have just skipped around since with a big grin on my face and a plan of attack.  Nope.  Inspiration, excitement and positivity are hard to come by and even harder to maintain right now.  We have to make a deliberate choice every day to find the silver lining.  So here I am today, trying to be positive.

Do you remember David Letterman’s top 10 list?  If not, it is no big deal, it really is self-explanatory.  I have decided to give you my top 10 things that might qualify as a silver lining during this pandemic.  He counted down, so we will start with 10 and you will feel the anticipation as each one gets better and better until we hit the number 1 item. 

10. No makeup. Sorry to anyone who sees me and is at first frightened, at least now I can wear a mask and most of you wouldn’t recognize me anyway.  I wear makeup on Friday only, lucky John.

9. Comfy clothes.  I even bought a pair of hideous Crocs to wear when I track back and forth to our shop.  You will not fully understand how comfy I am, because I do not leave the house that way, yep, on Friday I wear jeans and cute shoes.

8. Masks and gloves.  For the obvious reasons, protection and a way to hide, but also I think people used to buy machines to steam their face.  No need now, just put that mask on and it becomes a jungle where you become totally aware of how your breath smells.  If your hands have been dry from all the washing, put on latex gloves, yep, a rainforest for your fingers.

7. Curbside service.  If you were a librarian, you would know this is a big thing right now.  It has divided us.  Not all agree with it, but we are currently providing this service under the guidance of our health center.  Not everyone has access to digital resources.

6. Quiet time.  This is a weird one to rate, it was great at first, probably would have been my number 1 a few weeks back, but just like Casey Kasem’s top 40, things eventually fall out of the countdown. 

5. Digital resources.  Still my preference, but it is bigger than that.  There have been so many new things, for example: Rosetta Stone has been added for free!  Another language resource available through our EBSCOhost link. 

4. Meal Experimentation.  Has there not been a better time to try out new things.  We have added new items to our usual likes thanks to Pinterest.  There is even a group on Facebook that is sharing meal ideas.  Check them out, Hot Mess Mom Meals.

3. Family Dinners.  This ties into number 4.  We seem to be spending more family meal time together, other than when I was finishing Little Fires Everywhere on Hulu the other night, we are at the table.  I only wish both my kiddos were home.

2. Zoom, FaceTime, Marco Polo, etc.  As much as technology likes to walk on that line of good and evil, we are so lucky to have resources to see each other.  I had a Zoom meeting with my staff and realized how much I missed their faces.  Friday nights we have started using Zoom and FaceTime to see the kiddo and her boyfriend who are not home with us.

And the number 1 silver lining…

Essential employees.  As much as I hate the way that word divides us, I am so thankful they are there.  This time would be absolutely devastating without them.  We are still able to eat every day, our most basic of needs and obviously it does not stop there.  Thank you for all the people that put themselves at risk every day.  Be safe and remember when you go out, the mask and gloves is for them too.  Upcoming Events: Shared Story Time at 10:30am, Monday – Friday, Story Time with our Brittany on Wednesday and Saturday at 10:00am, Wild Robot story with Brenda every night at 5:00pm, Fitness Challenge at 8:00am, Monday – Friday, Creative Fun at 3:00pm, Monday – Friday, and Writing/Reading Time at 6:00pm, Monday – Friday