Our own research girl, Milliejupiter, was a scrappy little toddler, a biter, too! Although I enjoyed keeping up with her as a SAH mom, when she was 2ish, I needed something more. So I took a Career Planning class at the Worcester YMCA.
Surprise, surprise, I discovered I was suited to teaching and library work, both of which I had dabbled in. Voila! At the same time, my local small town New England library was looking for a part-time director. I put my hair in a bun, really, I did, borrowed a pretty flowered dress from my friend Maureen, and got the job.
It was a perfect job for a new mom--two blocks from my house, many old dusty books waiting to be weeded--oh, forget it, that's another story. The best perk on the job by far was filling a canvas bag with picture books at the end of my shift. Then I would return home to the cries of "Mama, didja bring me nice books?!" Then we would settle on the couch for a read and cuddle.
A small aside on the topic-I recently asked CollegeBoy aka Boothboy if he remembered all those nights when Dad worked late and we'd sit on our bed with a pile of books, to which he replied, "OH, yeah, I used to hate that."
Flash forward twenty years and Milliejupiter graduates with honors in Anthropology from Syracuse University. She moves home after a brief roommate from hell experience, and accepts a job running the circ desk at a large suburban library. She loves her job and we love sharing "problem patron" stories. However, when she walks in the door after a long day in the trenches and I ask her, "Didja bring me nice books", she just rolls her eyes..........

Kickin and screamin...

So, it seems I'm being dragged, kickin and screamin, into the VORTEX of the Blogosphere. NO! Really! I had no intention of doing this at all. It started with a little note to a new-found friend on Facebook, Clairz. I found Clairz while researching relocating from Massachusetts to New Mexico. No, I don't think that will be the theme of my blog, but it might come up. Clair liked my note about my sister Claire and said, "Where's Your Blog?", to which I replied "Ummmmm......." then before I knew what had happened, my husband Pat,aka TFabP, set me up on this here Blogger thing.
So there ya go. I have no idea what will show up here, but I do have something to say...and it's So loud in here.....

Another Claire...

Mary Hulser January 16 at 6:54am
I'm so happy to have another Clair in my life....
Let me tell you about my sister Claire. She's the oldest of 10 children (I'm one of the "little" kids) and she was an awesome sister. When I went to K and first grade, she bought me back to school dresses. When she came home from college in the 60's she taught us about "pixies" a game like Secret Santa, where we did secret little favors for each other leading up to Christmas, then guessed who was our pixie. She always promised to take me horse-back riding, but that never happened. To this day, I'm afraid of horses.
Lots more memories of Claire, but more recently, as we grew older, we would have a nice chat on the phone on Saturday mornings, with much laughter.
Claire was an elementary teacher in cold, grey,flat Holley, NY (near Rochester). She and her husband Butch, a Jr high IA teacher, spent their summers dragging their 2 kids all over the country. They drove to Alaska twice. I went with them to Florida and Disney once.
Anyway, as Claire and Butch were getting ready to retire and buy their lake house in the Adirondacks, she started to "lose words" as we all do. She started to tell her third graders to remind her of things if she forgot them. They retired to the lake house and I noticed our phone conversations were a little odd. I mentioned it to sister #2, Rosemary, a hospice nurse, and she hadn't noticed anything.
Eventually Claire was diagnosed with Primary Progressive Aphasia, and she lost her ability to speak. I remember sitting with her by the lake and she showed me her brochures on the condition and she simply said "I KNOW". Things progressed and now her diagnosis is Picks Disease, a form of dementia, similar to Alzheimer's.
She's gone, although still alive and well cared for at home by her saintly, anti-religious husband. She speaks only gibberish and we don't know if she recognizes us. I don't visit her enough. I offer to give my brother-in-law a break from the care-taking, but he won't take it. I'm guessing he feels that others won't be as attentive as he is.
So, I miss Claire......and happy to have a new Clair in my life....
More sister stories to come....if you can take it.......