A Wandering Eyre

I am convinced that the more pregnant you are, the more your brain can only focus on babies. I think, biologically, this prepares you for having to concentrate on a wee person’s survival for weeks. I mean years and years. What was I thinking?!

As a result of having what my more experienced friends call “Mommy Brain,” I have been unable to do much of anything interesting. Couple that with the fact that it takes me twice as long and about twice the energy to do even the simplest tasks and you have a Jane who has energy only for nesting.

I am pulling the life trumps blogging card now and taking my maternity leave from this site for a few weeks. I will pop in occasionally with a quip. There will be very big news here on Friday. Not baby news, but actual library related news. Keep your RSS readers ready for that because I think it is fabulous stuff. Would I lead you astray? Never!

There will be an announcement and picture here of Baby Rochester once he decides it is time to join the land of the living, breathing people. He is officially one day late today.

I expect to be back annoying you with inane commentary later in May. Until then, I will be posting ridiculous updates and pictures of the most. wonderful. baby. ever on our family blog.

–Jane, expects to be less round by late May

I have thoroughly enjoyed the small vacation of sorts that I have been taking the last month or so. I have immersed myself in the domestic needs of the Rochester household and concentrated on the business of gestating the child in my belly. I have not missed work, but I have missed being caught up on the goings on in libraryland.

I have already heard about some of the excitment from CiL including some not so Swift things and an incident involving the Brickskeller. I plan on catching up on everyone’s goings on in the next couple days. I am going to make an effort to be in this space more the next couple of weeks, until Baby Rochester makes his appearance. After that, I am taking about a month off for maternity leave and it will be very quiet around here, but a little more chatty over at Defying Genetics.

–Jane, must go get organized for the day has suddenly filled

In my last post, I was harsh. It is true. ITI, I still love you. You put on the best library conferences I have attended. Hands down. I will really miss Computers in Libraries and Internet Librarian this year. Our impending arrival will keep me homebound for awhile, but I hope to return when I am able.

–Jane, full of hormones

I am very humbled to be included in this list for 2008 from Library Journal. I love that some of my very favorite librarians are receiving this award and I can not believe I am on a list with them.

Congratulations to everyone. May you all have continued successes and many blessings.

If you are looking for a list with actual names and blogs, Librarian By Day has come to the rescue.

–Jane, moving and shaking in 2008

I know many of you are pondering this title. It is not Spring yet, you may say. I am still shoulder deep in snow!

I have sad news for you Northern folks; It is Spring here in Texas. We have a “cold” front coming in later today and it will get as low as the 40’s, but it pops back up to the 60’s during the day. The birds are out, the flowers are blooming, and the grass has started growing. Mr. Rochester has mow and edge the lawn on his To Do list for the weekend. Spring has sprung.

The growing smells in the air, coupled with my own daily growing, had reminded me it is time for updates and changes to this space. I have updated the Presentations and About pages and I have added a page listing Writing.

–Jane, updates her status to “very round”

Today, I present a post of disjointed items, such as one would find when cleaning out a desk drawer.

This week, and most of last, I have spent a large portion of my time physically and virtually packing. My office is looking quite sad and bare. Gone are the Firefly pictures, photos, and general clutter that made my workspace my own. I have two more days here and then I am a free librarian.

It is almost depressing what the cumulation of 3.5 years of work reduced to a few paper and electronic files. It reminds me that everyone is replaceable. Work continues on without you, just like when you die. Life goes on. This is the main reason I refuse to check work email during vacation. It is vacation for a reason. No one at work needs YOU that much. I promise. If you think they do, you need to re-evaluate your self-worth and priorities.

I have been trying to write a post for a long time. A follow-up post to my good things about academic libraries. A post containing the not so good things. A post with most of the reasons why I am leaving because, baby aside, there are many reasons that it is past time for me to move on. I will keep working on that because the post itself has been many long days, weeks, months, in the making.

I am 31 weeks preggo at this point and starting to feel larger, more awkward, and forgetful everyday. I feel great and pregnancy seems like a very interesting adventure so far. I can not wait for Baby Rochester to actually get here. As long as he waits until I have the baby stuff actually in his room. (you hear that belly?)

I just found five conference bags underneath my desk with conference papers still in them. What am I going to do with all those bags when I already have a ton at home? What do you do with them?

My day is almost completed. I am joining Mr. Rochester and some other rocket scientists for happy hour at a wine bar. Nothing says fun like engineers with drinks. I will be drinking the non-alcoholic fare, of course.

–Jane, happy hour sans a good beer or martini is just not the same

Tom Peters will be having a conversation with yours truly tomorrow at 2pm ET in OPAL’s auditorium.

I am not sure what we are going to talk about but you know I rarely have little to say. I can not promise the level of fun found at Meredith’s chat last month, but there should be some fun to be had.

Other exciting people on the Casual Conversation lineup include:
Friday, March 28, 2008: Marshall Breeding
Friday, April 11, 2008: Jenny Levine
Friday, May 16, 2008: Stephen Abram
Friday, June 6, 2008: Michael Stephens
Friday, July 11, 2008: Greg Schwartz

–Jane, conversing about things

(picture inclusion with a nod towards Helene Blowers)

This post has been a long time coming. If all works out accordingly, this post will be published directly after or right before I hand the interested parties my letter of resignation from the University of Houston Libraries where I have worked for three and a half years. I am sad to be leaving my friends and colleagues behind, even though I will see most of them often enough. Those who know me or have been paying attention will not be surprised at my departure. I have needed, searched for, even longed for a change in work scenery for quite awhile.

I am trading my crazy, traffic filled commute for domesticity and working from home. Instead of a Social Sciences Librarian, I will be a stay at home wife, mother, and Geek Librarian At Large. In addition to changing diapers and walking around with a baby attached to my chest, I plan on engaging in the following professional activities:

Friends and long time readers will surmise correctly that I am going to continue to do the things that I love the most about being a librarian, teaching and advocating for technology education in librarianship. Due to the impending arrival of Baby Rochester, I am placing a hiatus on most professional travel for almost a year and half. I expect my next conference to be ALA Annual 2009, though one never knows what life will bring you. Box of chocolates, anyone?

I plan on writing at least one more post reflecting on working in an academic library, based on my experiences in the one that fostered me these last few years, and the kind of job I would love to have some day. Those should be coming along shortly.

Until then, I am excited about this new phase of my life, happy for the change of pace, and pleased to be able to finally tell you, gentle readers and friends, my plan.

–Jane, tickled baby boy blue

For various reasons, I will only be in the city of Brotherly Love for a short time. I have, as a consequence, completely packed my schedule. Some things are overlapping and this may be the first time I have ever missed a Blog Salon. I am hoping there are still some drunk librarians, I mean, some people, still there after 8. I will drop by after my meeting.

Saturday
2:19 Arrive
4-6 Seeing a Man About a Dog
5:30-7:30 Darien Public Library Get Together
5:30-8:30 ALA Publishing Reception
After Meeting some friends if I have any steam left

Sunday
9 Breakfast with the 2 other TechSource Peeps
10:30-12 BIGWIG Meeting
12:30 Lunch w/Rachel V.
4 Coffee with Pete B.
6-8 Jim Rettig Board
After Blog Salon if it is still going on, if not, something else

Monday
8 LITA Town Meeting
Lunch Cheesesteak
3 Leave for Home

Safe travels to all going earlier than me, which I think is almost everyone.

–Jane, will be sad, this is her last in person ALA for awhile

I received an email from a cataloger at the University of Washington. She wanted to know my DOB so she could create an authority record for me while cataloging my LTR. Awesome!

My readers who are not librarians will not find this as amusing as I did, but I can now consider myself “published.”

–Jane, heehee