On the eighth day of Christmas...

I wished you all a Happy New Year!!

I had a little sleep in this morning, until 6am.  Then I was up and thinking about what to eat for breakfast that would not cause me any incidents during my fun run at 9am.  I decided on toast with peanut butter and honey and a banana (well half a one because it was a bit too ripe).

I got the rest of the family up at 7.15am and we headed up to Sawtell at 8am.  I was worried I was running late and would not be able to find a park and register before 9am but we got there in time and all was good.

It was hot!  The run was to start at 9am but didn't get away until 9.15am.  It was good to have my family there to support me and take video (and another one) and photos of the run.  Apparently, there were about 300 people participating.

Did I mention it was hot?!?  Well the first leg of the run after you have done a loop of the main street of Sawtell takes you up a fairly lengthy incline.  Then it's flat for a few kilometres and then you hit another hill about 1/2 km from the finish line.  I didn't do any sprints to the finish in this run as it was just too hot.  But it's given me good practice for the next run at Coffs on Australia day.  I plan on doing the 10km.

Once I had completed the run, we headed to the inflatable slide for Miss A to have a go and then headed home to get changed into togs (swimmers) to go to the beach.

I was pretty tired so we only splashed around at the beach for an hour or so and then headed home, stopping for an ice cream on the way!

Until I did my walk this afternoon, I spent most of it watching Man vs Food - which really is quite an amazing and disgusting show - disgusting because of the amount of food consumed.

I'm sure I'm supposed to mention some resolutions in this post and perhaps some reflections on the year just passed.  2013 was a fairly ordinary year except for joining bootcamp and meeting some wonderful women that live in my area.  Taking up jogging and losing weight and completing two 10km fun runs.

On the job front, there wasn't really too much excitement.  We implemented ebooks and emagazines are in the process of installing RFID (Radio Frequency Identification).  But personally work did not see many amazing achievements for me.  In fact, I think it's safe to say I'm in a bit of a rut.  Changes happened external to the library in our organisation that has affected moral a little and I'm looking for ways to improve on running the three branch libraries and being a better manager/supervisor.  Perhaps 2014 will the be year.  No I think 2014 will be the year - it has to be.

So for 2014 I would like to continue running and complete the following runs (I hope) - half marathon at Port Macquarie in March, half marathon at South West Rocks in June (I think), half marathon at Ipswich in July, and half marathon at Coffs in September.

I'm also going to trial doing speed sessions on a Tuesday morning with a running friend.  These are held in Coffs so it will mean having to be ultra organised on Tuesday mornings.

Work wise, I'm going to work on being less emotional, more organised; getting the libraries in the face of our organisation; making the performance appraisal process and goals more meaningful for my staff; and continue learning.  And getting some motivation back!

Miss A and I before my run today

 

Happy New Year

Excuse me if this post appears to be a little rushed but I'm taking my window of opportunity seriously. For the past few days the internet has been dropping out by 8.20am so I have only an hour to get all my internet catch up done. Plus I have two little girls bubbling around the lounge room after a sleep over with very little sleep (well maybe it was me who had very little sleep).

So a New Years post probably should have some resolutions in it. I'm not one for resolutions, usually! And I suppose I'm not really one for goal setting either - yeah I know that's bad!! I think I just try to get on and do the job and don't spend too much time glancing at the horizon - well I do when it comes to our profession but when it comes to my personal life I'm lucky to see past the next day, let alone 5 years down the track.

However, I do have some things I would like to achieve this year. I would like to finally see consistency across the 3 branch libraries I manage. You will note in a past post that I discussed this a little so now the foot is coming down.

I'd like have at least one traineeship position introduced to the library service. I'm constantly aware that I am the youngest staff member in my team - at 34 (will be 35 in 30 days - hint hint), with the next youngest being 49. So we need some young people coming up the ranks ready to assist me when those that have been here 15+ years decide to move on. We are undergoing a restructure so I hope this is one of the outcomes. I'm working on a proposal - aiming high with 4 traineeship positions but hoping to at least get one - but am yet to cost it out and show benefits - will not think about this till I return to work.

I would like to write a conference paper or an article but am unsure what to write about. This has been plaguing me for a number of years. The last conference paper I presented was back in 2006. I have done some short articles and informal presentations since but nothing that I have really researched. I had an idea for research but feel it is a little sensitive and am not sure how to approach it so I will sit on it for a while. There are also some great scholarships available through Public Libraries NSW so that is on my radar.

A colleague of mine from Narrabri came up with the idea of staff swaps with metropolitan library staff while we were at the SWITCH conference. Narrabri has a metro sister city so she thought she would approach her management and their management and see if a staff swap could be arranged. The staff member could spend a week at Narrabri while she spent a week at their library. Then comparisons and differences could be experienced and reported on.

Thinking back to my secondment research, I was excited by the idea and said that I could do it with her. Although, now the logistics are a little hard. It is hard to leave my family for a week. If I do it during school term then they can't accompany me and if I do it during holidays then there are the extra travel costs with them accompanying me. Also, my POW does not have a sister city so I would have to make some contact with some libraries I'm interested in and see if they are interested. Then there is the issue of accommodation for the swapping person - do you do what happens in staff exchanges and let them live in your house??!! Anyway, something requiring a little more thought.

To visit home more than once a year would be another goal. Since moving here 3 years ago I have only manage to get one visit home to Qld each year. We love having people staying with us - we now have 2 fold out sofa beds (hint hint) - but I also love getting back home to catch up with family and friends. It is hard to drag myself away from this beautiful place and the ocean but it is also good to get back to the city so that I appreciate where I am even more. I'll be looking out for some professional events in Qld that may be a drawcard for throwing in a visit.

To up the ante on my exercise regime. Hmm this is a hard one. I currently exercise during my lunch break - either a 45min walk or a 30min swim depending on the season. During winter I was doing a make shift boot camp on my own but lost motivation - I don't particularly enjoy running and it got a bit lonely doing the workout components on my own. I would love for the town gym to be open at lunch time so I could go there but alas it is not. So I will be looking at some different ideas I can throw into a lunch break to challenge myself a bit more.

I'm not on a weight loss program or anything like that - I just want to feel better. That is how I initially started 2 years ago. I have always walked, and back in the 90's when I lived in Central Qld I even taught aerobics, but I wasn't challenging myself. And the big wake up call was when I tried on some work uniforms and had to go for a size that even shocked me. So that was when the bootcamps started and the walking and the swimming (I don't swim correctly but it gives me a workout regardless). So since my wake up call I have dropped 7kg, 2 dress sizes (depending on the store you buy from) and am feeling a lot better.

I will participate in #readit2012. My reading tastes at the moment are stuck on contemporary romances - eg Nora Roberts. Oh and cowboy romance. So I will try to venture outside of my comfort zone when it comes to reading.

Well I suppose they are the main things I want to focus on. I will add that I would like to participate in more blog challenges, tweet more and actually get to view the webinars that I signed up for to get the archive version of - and use my eportfolio more - and why not add, learn to reflect better!!

What are your goals for 2012?

PS I just want to add that I follow a number of blogs but there is one in particular that I enjoy and actually admire the blogger for their openess and dress sense (much better than mine which is why I don't think I'll be participating in daily image) - http://buntotinglibrarian.wordpress.com