Is This Normal?
The chaos that is the KerbersArchive for May, 2010
Let’s not forget
I know that everyone is super excited for the three-day weekend that traditionally marks the beginning of summer…Memorial Day. But I hope that everyone takes some time this weekend to remember the real reason for this holiday.
To anyone who has served our country in the military, and especially to the families of those who have given their lives fighting for our freedom…thank you.
A not-so-great start to summer
Our little weekend getaway went from awesome to awful in just a few hours. After we checked into our hotel last night, we went out to get a late dinner. We had just snacked a bit at Mom & Dad’s, and were looking forward to having a bite before we called it a night. It was so nice to actually have a dinner where we could talk about things other than our schedule or things about the kids. We came back to the hotel and basically crashed because it had been such a great, long day.
A couple of hours later, I heard Dave getting sick in the bathroom. I won’t go into details, but let’s just say that he was SICK. He was up several times throughout the night, and he was absolutely miserable. We knew that we’d have to check out and just come home. While he was feeling a bit better by mid morning, there was no way he was going to be up to being out and about and shopping, visiting old haunts, or seeing a movie, like we had planned. I went to breakfast in the hotel, but as soon as I started eating, I realized that my stomach wasn’t feeling very well, either. We quickly checked out and headed home.
Dave slept the entire afternoon, and then I started getting sick and joined him in bed for most of the evening. We were both so disappointed that our weekend was ruined, but we were also so thankful that the kids were still in Sycamore at my parents’ house. We couldn’t imagine being out of bed long enough to entertain and/or take care of them in our current state.
Hopefully the entire weekend isn’t blown…even if our great weekend away together was.
A great start to summer
Today was one of the best days I’ve had in a really long time. Dave, the kids and I piled into the van and headed north to Naperville. We like to “get away” there and do some of the things we used to do before I moved down to Blo-No. Today’s visit was a little different since we had the kids, but it was still awesome. The first thing we did was head to the River Walk. Even though there are signs everywhere 
asking people not to feed the wildlife, we brought some old bread with us and had big fun throwing pieces off of the walking bridge for the ducks and geese. The kids also really liked the fountains along the walk, and as an added bonus there was a huge digger working on a part of the river walk right next to the bridge. That was very fun to watch.
We then walked down to Jimmie’s Grill and since it was such a gorgeous day, we had lunch outside. It’s on a super busy corner of downtown Naperville, so the kids were entertained while we waited for our food. Win/win. 🙂 After lunch we headed to the DuPage Children’s Museum. I can’t believe that I had never been there before, but I hadn’t. I guess it’s because I moved before all my friends and I had kids. At any rate, we picked the perfect day to go. The place was like a ghost town. I suppose that during Memorial Day weekend, the first major outdoor weekend of the year, it would make sense that an indoor attraction would not be full. But we were pleasantly surprised. We literally spent over three hours at that place, and I really don’t think the kids were ready to leave when we did. There is so much to do there that it’s impossible to mention everything they did, so I’ll just highlight their favorite parts.
Emma loved the water table. She poured water from one container to another…back and forth and back and forth again. Then she’d dump it out, fill up another thing, and get back to pouring…back and forth and back and forth the water went from one container to another. I’ve never seen her concentrate on something for so long. It was priceless.
The highlight for Ben, I think, 
was working in the workshop with Dave. He was so proud when they actually sawed a piece of wood off of a larger piece. He even wanted to take the two little pieces they cut with us so he could show Grandpa that he sawed all by himself. Truly, he was beaming when he showed off his work. As a side note, it cracks me up that he’s wearing his safety goggles on top of his head instead of where they belong. Daddy must have been distracted to let that happen!
Once we left the museum, we stopped at a DQ for a treat, and then we headed for Sycamore. Emma was asleep instantly, and Ben was like a zombie the entire trip. It was so much fun spending the day together…I hope that it’s a good sign for an awesome summer!!
The end of it all
Today was the last day of school. As I mentioned previously, we handle thousands of textbooks over the course of a week or so. I just wanted to give everyone a visual for that process.
Even this doesn’t give you the full effect, but you get the idea. It’s not fun, but now it’s done. 🙂
I have to admit that I was ready for this school year to end. Ever since the beginning of May, when I learned about my involuntary transfer to travel between both high schools, things have not been great for me at school. I know that I shouldn’t, but I really just see this transfer as a demotion. I feel like the hard work I’ve put into my job for five years is just being ignored. And even though I do respect seniority and our union, it’s difficult to swallow the concept of someone doing a job for one year bumping someone doing the same job for four years longer. I think that in a weird way it’s even more difficult because I’m good friends with Caroline. I don’t begrudge her the position at NCHS…and I know she’s certainly qualified. But I still can’t shake the idea that my entire career has been turned upside down and there’s not a single thing I can do about it, which sucks. What I hate the most is that I usually embrace change and just move forward doing whatever it is I can to make it work best for me. This time, though, I really feel like there’s nothing I can do. Instead of being half of a team working together in the IMC, I will be a glorified assistant whose basic function is to cover the “real” librarians’ conference periods. And no matter how anyone sugar coats it, that’s what my job now is.
I have the summer to wrap my brain around this whole thing and to mentally prepare myself for my new job. I want to do that…I just hope I can.
End-of-the-year program
Tonight we went to Tomorrow’s Promise for their graduation and end of the year program. Ben was super excited for “the entire family” to come watch him perform. He told me that he was a sun and the suns were first, so I was excited, too. It was super cute, and what being a sun meant was that he held a sun on a stick above his head while the song, “Let the Sun Shine In” played. 
The did more dancing than singing, and I was especially amused to see Ben’s moves. He was totally into it; swaying back and forth and wiggling his hips. Of course, even when the music stopped he was still jiggling around…and I could immediately tell he had to go to the bathroom! I was just praying he would make it through his class’s performance, and thankfully, he did. The kids got to come sit with their family after their class was done, and we went out to the bathroom right away. He told me, “I had to go potty really bad but I didn’t want to miss any of our songs!”
It was a treat to see Ben up there with all his classmates. He wasn’t shy, he wasn’t nervous, and he really seemed to have fun. He’s come a long way this school year.
No longer LOST
Right now, as I type, the series finale of LOST is starting. We’re not watching it yet, because I can’t stand to watch the show live anymore. The anticipation of tonight’s show has been building all season, but over the weekend it pretty much turned into a media frenzy. I have to admit that I’m right there with everyone else who has followed this show since the beginning…I absolutely can’t wait to see where it takes us tonight.
I’m sure that at the end of the finale no one will have all of their questions answered, but I hope I at least feel satisfied with the conclusion. I do think this is a monumental event, because like it or not, LOST changed the face of television over the last six years. Sure, I’ve always loved talking about TV with friends and colleagues, but it’s never been like this before. This show has made us viewers happy, made us angry, made us confused, and most of all made us all theorize and question everything about it. What a fun ride it’s been, and although I’m sad to see it go, I’m also a bit relieved. Watching LOST is exhausting…I don’t think I’ve ever thought or talked about a TV show more in my life. Thanks for the ride, LOST!!
Textbook Hell
This time of year is always so bittersweet…summer vacation is quickly approaching, but we have to get through textbook Hell before we can be free. What do I mean by textbook Hell? Well, we (meaning Caroline, our assistant Sean and I) have to put all of our textbooks in the IMC stacked very neatly so they can be distributed again at registration in August. Here’s the start of the process:
Add about 9,000 more books to those piles, and you get the full picture. And each one of those books was handled by one of the three of us IMC staff members. It’s a tough job, but it’s a means to an end. Once we’re done…school’s done, too.
I really can’t wait for that this year.
Visiting Grandma
Tonight we took the kids with us to visit Grandma Kerber in the hospital. She had a hip replacement surgery yesterday morning, and it went really well…she is doing really well! Dave went to see her last night after work, and he checked to see if the kids could actually come to her room. I was shocked that they could, but he assured me it would be all right. I was really torn on whether to take them or not. While I knew it would mean the world to Grandma to see them, I also knew that it could potentially be a disaster to take them there. But ultimately I thought brightening Grandma’s day was more important, so I agreed to meet Dave after work and brave a visit.
The kids and I talked a lot about what being in the hospital meant, and what an operation was, and Ben asked a lot of questions, but he didn’t seem to be too freaked out by it all. That was a good sign. It helped that he had seen stitches (both on Emma and on Aunt Mary’s dog) so he could more easily understand the part about cutting someone open and closing them back up. The thing that I tried to emphasize the most (because it was the thing I was worried about the most) was that we had to be very calm and quiet in a hospital. I was optimistic, but a bit nervous as we walked from the parking garage to the entrance.
As soon as we got in they were hooked on the escalator. Who knew that would be such a thrill for them, but it was. I guess now that I think about it, they’ve probably never been on one before. After riding that to the second floor, we took the elevator up to Grandma’s floor and went to her room. They were both doing great…each holding one of our hands and walking nice and quietly to her room.
Grandma was so happy to see them…I knew right away that we made the right choice. We didn’t stay long, because let’s face it…there’s not much to occupy toddlers in a single hospital room. They started to get a little rowdy, and we had to get after them a bit before we left, but overall it wasn’t as bad as I had feared. Most importantly, they did get to give hugs and kisses to Grandma, which I suspect were better medicine than anything else she was on.
What’s that sound?
Oh, it’s our furnace…still running!
Yes, even though it’s the second half of May, it’s only 51° outside! It’s been raining for days, and it’s absolutely icky outside. We got a great taste of spring for a few weeks, and now it feels like early March again. Come on, Spring…we really need some sunshine!!
A much-needed weekend
We had an awesome weekend…doing a whole lot of nothin’! After last week and last weekend being full of activities and drama, it was so nice to do nothing but spend time together as a family. We watched a couple of movies, we ran a couple errands, but most of all we just spent time together having fun. We played Emma’s new game and we played with a lot of toys. The biggest thrill for me is that Dave got really, really close to being done putting up all the trim in the basement. That makes it one step closer to being completely done down there. I swear it will happen some day! 🙂
I think that I needed this relaxing weekend more than anything. This week starts textbook collection in the IMC, and that is always exhausting. It was nice to get refreshed and ready to start the final stretch of the school year.
Is This Normal? 