This... is... Jeopardy!

*theme song plays as camera zooms in on...*

A children's librarian from Oakland, California...

Remy Timbrook.

That is me next to Alex Trebek, who is the voice of my childhood.

That is to say: I am going to be on Jeopardy! next week. I taped my episode(s) (no spoilers!) in September, and I will make my (first? only? gotta watch!) appearance on Wednesday, December 20th. It was an intense experience, and I am so pleased to have achieved a lifelong goal and item on my 101 in 1001 to-do list. Tune in Wednesday to see how I do!

If you won a game show, what would you do with your winnings?

Resolutions for 2014

2014 will be full of changes for my family! Adjusting to new things can be tough, especially large-scale things like where we live, work, and volunteer, and who shares our life with us. Instead of nailing down a bunch of quantifiable goals, I've decided to change things up. I have had long lists of resolutions for previous years, but 2014 bodes to be both simpler and fuller in several ways. So my new year's resolutions are less numerous, but larger in scale.

CC by BazaarBizarreSF (Flickr)

1) A hippopotamus 2) my two front teeth 3) you

...also, a yacht. Really, that's not a lot.

CC by Visit Cape May (Flickr)

I think Santa must be aware of this year's struggles in the battle between Naughty and Nice (just at this moment, I fear I have overdue fines on a handful of library books I've held onto for too long), but he's a pretty easy-going guy. And the season is treating me well so far. I mean, despite lacking space to put a Christmas tree in our apartment tonight, I was given the opportunity to decorate not one, but FIVE trees elsewhere -- all in 24 hours. Sweet.

Happy Turkey Day!

Posting from my parents' place. I was reminded of the holiday this morning, more than once. In some ways, today is just a Thursday I don't have to work. (I hope -- I'm on call in case something catches on fire at work.) But it was nice to wake up and take a walk with my dad and the dog, and then come back to make a big breakfast for the 4 of us (my sister will appear tomorrow, boyfriend in tow).

We'll have an early evening turkey dinner tonight at a local family friend's. Tomorrow we'll be at my aunt's, with about twice the number of people, for Friday Thanksgiving. I made "real" cranberry sauce for that. Hmmph. Oh, and last weekend I made another turkey. Used a pesto rub and roasted it breast-side down, and it was crispy and good. We had a couple meals of white meat, cranberry sauce (from a can! my favorite), and roasted sweet potato fries. Already broke down the bones for stock, and the leftover meat will become turkey burritos, turkey pasta, and turkey soup.

Hope that you're able to take a rest today (amid work, family, and kitchen duties) and appreciate all of your blessings. See you next week!

A Follow-up on Paying Off My Student Loans

To recap:
I took out federal student loans to pay for grad school.
I saved up over time to pay them off before interest kicked in (or so I'd planned, and then the laws changed and interest started accruing on the second year of loans while I was still in school).
I asked FedLoan for a payoff amount. They gave me a number.
I paid off all of my loans in one big chunk, a couple of weeks before I graduated. That felt awesome.

CC Gwyneth Anne Bronwynne Jones (Flickr)

And now, 6 months later, the final chapter.

On our way!

This is the stack of books I'm bringing along on vacation:

Weekend Catch-up

I know this blog's become more about life stuff recently. Groceries and meal planning, frugal living, and personal achievements aren't the only things going on for me right now, but I'm out of library school and there's not much library stuff I can talk about right now. I hope to come back to it in a while. In the meantime, here's what I've been up to this weekend!

Movin' On Up!

Just a little groove to get you set for the big news.

2014 Travel Plans

As my wife and I discussed household plans and timelines the other day, I suddenly realized that we have a lot more plans to travel next year than we usually do. I'm a major homebody, but I enjoy the vacation planning process quite a lot. Guess it's time to start working on that savings goal! And book some reservations as well, in the next couple months. I'm glad I have enough vacation time.

Earworms of the Moment

I'm unloading my current earworms in the hope that it'll make them stop... a futile hope, perhaps. Feel free to share your own songs of the moment!

The Liebster Award

I was nominated for the Liebster Award by Joshua Brown at Brown's Balanced Life. (Thanks! It's nice to know more about who's reading.)

This "award" (okay, it's more like a chain letter -- but don't be scared off!) says something like, "Hey, I like reading your stuff!" and is an opportunity for new(er) bloggers to introduce themselves to a larger blogosphere. Bloggers love an excuse to talk about themselves!

If you're coming here because you were nominated or tagged by me, welcome! Here are your instructions:

1. Make a new post about this award in your blog.
2. Post 11 random facts about yourself.
3. In your post, answer the questions the nominator has created (below). 
4. Then choose 3-5 new bloggers (with fewer than 200 followers) to "nominate" and link to them in your post.
5. Create 11 new questions for the bloggers you nominate to answer.
6. Go back to their pages and tell them about the award.
7. (If you'd rather have an "Honorary Award", you don't have to do any of this -- just keep blogging!)

Strides in Snowflaking

As I've sent some extra snowflakes to the Adoption fund recently, it's grown quickly! Today I got an email from CapitalOne360 (formerly ING Direct) to congratulate me on my savings progress:

Dinner Party Question: Broadway Edition

Having just attended a friend's dinner party, I was turning over the old interview question in my head: "If you could invite 5 people, living or dead, to a dinner party (presumably a fabulous one), whom would you choose and why?"

Accomplishments of a Long Weekend

This four-day weekend marked the last of the 4-day workweeks I'd arranged for my final semester. As I'm done with all my coursework, it was an opportunity to recharge as well as get some chores done around the apartment. As I mentioned on Facebook, I have a stack of library books, a list of household chores, a watermelon, and the makings of chicken pot pie. This weekend is gonna be epic. (And I meant it, too. I must be a boring grownup now.)

Greek Yogurt for the Lactose-Sensitive

I'm not usually one to post photos of my meals. Usually I just want to eat them! And to be honest, plating presentation ain't my strong point. Nonetheless, here is my lunch:

Greek yogurt with blackberries, oat cereal, and honey

Things to Do After School Lets Out

This is not exactly "Things to Do After Grad School" or even "Things To Do After (any type of) Graduation". It's more a brief compilation of my thoughts on "SUMMER VACATION IS COMING YAAAAAAAAAAY". *ahem*

Soundtrack of My Week

Here's a collection of frivolity, drawn from the earworms I've suffered this week. Enjoy!

Library List

When I run across a title that sounds intriguing, I go to Amazon and put it on my wishlist -- one of several, really. I keep at least one for each program I collect for, and there's the traditional gift wishlist, too. This one's just to remind me while I'm at the library (or requesting holds). When I've read the book, I remove it from the list, but that title still factors into the recommendations Amazon makes for me.

Remy's Library List

Lots of YA novels currently, and you can see other trends if you page backwards. I hope I'll have a bit more time for pleasure reading after graduation; I haven't even had time to get to the library in recent weeks, much less read much. (Probably one reason my temper's been so short; I hate being too busy to read.)

What's on your reading list? Or in the stack next to your bed? Anything you'd recommend?

Nearing the finish line... too tired to care.

Well, I've completed almost all of the work necessary to earn my MLIS. I'm not celebrating yet, though. Not only do I have a couple of hoops to jump through, but also I'm not really in the mood.

500 days and 64 things left

Goodness, time is slipping by! I have many things yet to complete on my 101 Things in 1001 Days list.