Three On Thursday

September 30, 2021 By Carole

This week we are returning to answering Ask Me Anything questions. Let’s do it.

Bonny asked: What is your proudest accomplishment?
I’ve done a lot of things I’ve been proud of, from getting my Master’s Degree in Library Science while working full time, to getting elected as a selectman, but I have to say the thing I’m most proud of is raising Hannah to be a strong and independent woman. I’ve mentioned before that I was raised by an alcoholic mother who was also raised by an alcoholic mother and as a result there was a lot of trauma and emotional abuse in my childhood and young adulthood. I was determined to not pass any of that on to Hannah. To never make her feel guilty for wanting to live her own life. To never expect her to fill my needs. To never subject her to the things I was subjected to. I didn’t always get it right but I broke the cycle and I’m really proud of that.

Becky asked: What are the fall back recipes you make over and over again?
My fall back is always comfort food. Meatloaf and baked potato, American Chop Suey, or chicken and rice. I almost always have the ingredients on hand to make any of those dishes. And, if all else fails, I make grilled cheese sandwiches.

Laurie asked: What is your favorite movie of all time?
My favorite movie is When Harry Met Sally. I’ve loved it since the first time I saw it and I think it’s still funny and charming and relevant all these years later. I don’t watch it often but every once in a while I have a craving for it and I’m never disappointed.

And that’s all for this round of Ask Me Anything. I hope you learned something new about me today. If you wrote a post to share, make sure you include your link below.

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Three On Thursday

September 16, 2021 By Carole

I haven’t forgotten about Ask Me Anything, all evidence to the contrary. Today, in a catch-all sort of way, I’m going to answer 3 questions from the original AMA post I wrote back in May.

Sarah asked: will you please tell us more about what you do at your job?
I am a Library Director in a small town in Southeastern MA. I’ve had this job for almost exactly 22 years, I started on 9/19/1999. Most of what I do is management . . . submitting payroll, processing bills, staff scheduling and keeping the Board of Library Trustees informed about things at the library. I attend Department Head meetings and network meetings (I’m the President of our network this year) and I hold staff meetings. I schedule passport application appointments, I deal with patrons who have problems, I handle performance reviews and I catalog the magazines. I print out and pull the holds list (books that people have requested, some that stay at our library but most that go out in delivery) every morning, I sometimes work at the circulation desk and create flyers and newsletters (not as often as I should) and emails to entice people to attend library events. I love my job because I get to work in a beautiful place with really great people and I’m surrounded by stories.

Bonny asked: what do you enjoy (and not enjoy) about being a selectman:
I’ve served on the Board of Selectman in my town since April, 2019. I enjoy almost all aspects of this role, from attending meetings to contract negotiations, to problem solving with my colleagues on the board. I like working with our Department Heads and helping them be successful, not just for themselves but for the town overall. I like being . . . in the know and making decisions on behalf of the people who trusted me by putting me in this position. I think the only thing I don’t like is that sometimes I can’t tell people why we did something because it’s related to a personnel matter or a lawsuit or executive session. It can be really frustrating to see people on social media speculating (or blaming) us for something and I just want to say, listen! this is why! But out attorneys won’t let me, hahaha!

Kym asked: what do you consider to be your main superpower?
I’m good in a crisis. Like, really good. I don’t fall apart, I am able to assess what needs to be done and either do it or assign it to someone else, and I generally know the right thing to say. Case in point, when Dale got hit by a car last year, I was calm and held it together. Inside I was terrified and shaken to the core but on the outside I was calm, thanking everyone for what they were doing, calming down my kids and assuring them that everything would be fine, and asking questions and writing down the answers. I might fall apart after things settle down but in the moment . . . I’m the one you want. The sad truth is that this stems from childhood trauma and chaos but it has served me well as an adult.

And those are my answers for this week – I hope you learned something new about me.

If you wrote a post for today, please include your link below. Thanks, as ever, for hanging with me on Thursdays.

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Ask Me Anything!

May 5, 2021 By Carole

Today is the day you’ve been waiting for . . . it’s the day I’m sharing the first installment of the Ask Me Anything Series!

I’ve given some thought to how to approach this and I’ve settled on grouping the questions by subject. There were quite a few about work, some about food. Some about knitting and books and movies and routines. And a few that fall into the trickiest category of all . . . deep. You know, the questions that will take some deep thought on my part to answer.

I’m going with the low hanging fruit for this post and I’m going to answer questions about Dale.

Mary K. asked: how is Dale’s lower leg?
It’s almost exactly a year since he was hit by a car while mowing the lawn and the simple answer to this question is that his broken bones have healed nicely. The more complicated answer is that he continues to struggle with swelling in his ankle and foot, it aches frequently, and he walks with a slight (and probably permanent) limp. He only recently stopped physical therapy as they felt they had helped him as much as they could but he still does exercises for the leg at home just about every day and he rides the Peloton, too. When I think about last summer it feels miraculous. When I think about the future it feels manageable.

Bonny and Pat both asked: how did you and Dale meet?
You all know Dale sings in a band, right? Or, well, he sang in a band before COVID. So the short answer is that we met because I was a groupie! But the explanation will take a little longer.

Way back in January 1993 my friend Diane, who was also my boss, (she was the Director and I was the Assistant Director) and I went to see Dale’s band play for a local fundraiser. Now, I had been aware of Dale’s band since I was a kid, seeing them play at outdoor concerts and in the park, but this was my first time going to see them as an adult and I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. Diane and I both liked oldies and classic rock, though, and as we sat at the table and listened to their first couple of songs I clearly remember Diane looking at me and saying, “I think we’ve found our people.” I actually won the door prize that night and I recall going up to the stage to collect my prize winnings, a t-shirt from a local radio station and a key chain, and gushing to Dale how I’d never won anything in my life before. Of course, I was married at the time and that was the extent of our interaction, but technically it is how we met.

Fast forward a few years and I had separated from my husband and Dale and I had become friendly, due in part to Diane and I continuing to go out and see the band over the years and also because Dale was a pretty regular library user. He saw me at a parade with Hannah (and not my husband) on the 4th of July and asked afterwards why he wasn’t there so I told him I was getting divorced. Next thing I knew, Dale was calling me every night. We had long, long chats on the phone nightly for weeks before we went out in person. In fact, we had talked so much and about so many things that our first date felt sort of anticlimactic – but in a really good and comfortable way. What followed was a whirlwind romance and we were married in less than a year.

And that’s a wrap on this installment of Ask Me Anything. Feel free to ask questions in the comments, I’ve got an on-going list and I promise to get to all of them.