Winter Break
I'm going to divide this post into 2 segments, so people can read the library or non-library stuff as they see fit. Here goes:

Library Stuff
I'm still on break from Pellissippi, waiting for my new spring contract to start, and waiting to see what my schedule might be like. I've been working some hours at Hodges Library at UT to get hours in towards my practicum. I'm hoping things will work out so that I can take a part time GA position at Hodges as well. It would be great experience, and it would help subsidize my income since I don't have money from Jewelry Television anymore.
I'm working on a little research presentation with some classmates, Sarah and Lisa, in which we are going to discuss homeless library users. It's kind of neat, because I am supposed to cover academic libraries, Sarah is going to cover public libraries, and Lisa is going to cover school libraries. We're hoping to discuss services and use statistics. Unfortunately, I am not finding too much about academic libraries! I have found a little, and have lots of anecdotal information, but I'm not finding too much hard research. I spoke with a UT police officer this morning about trends he has observed in usage, and was really surprised at the attitude towards homeless folks. I guess it shouldn't surprise me, but it does. :( Anyhow, when I met with Sarah and Lisa to discuss this little project, we discussed our job prospects. I felt a little like a Jane Austen character, as they were excitedly discussing their school media prospects and I realized that I don't have a solid plan. No occupational suitors, I guess. So they told me about all the openings in School Media, and as I considered the prospects, and the similarities between what I want in an academic library and what is available in a school library... well, you can probably see where this is going!
So I met with Dr. Welch, who is one of the SIS folks that handles licensure. Now I am considering getting licensed after I graduate. It just seems like a great option, and I'm not thinking of it as "just a fall-back plan"-- I mean I am seriously considering it as a viable option! I have already taken approximately half of the course work. If I wanted to prolong my MLS experience, I could stay another year and then be licensed and graduate at the same time. However, I think I want to start in the work force ASAP.
So the plan, as it stands right now, is to take a couple of the classes that I need for licensure in this upcoming spring semester, and graduate in May as planned. I'll look for a job, and if 1)a job and I don't find each other, or 2)I find a job in the local school system, then I'll get my license.
Now the trick is to see how many classes I can squeeze in between jobs. Will I get the GA position, and if so, will it effect my course load? Will Pellissippi work around my class schedule to allow me to take an extra class? Only time will tell. You'll find out with my next blog update, I'm sure! :)

Non-Library Stuff
Christmas was Merry. It had its ups and downs, like always. Car trouble almost broke my Christmas tradition of going to mass, but my family pulled through and managed to pick me up and drop me off. I was glad not to break that tradition. My husband and I made the rounds from his family to my family and back again. We got to see friends. We played games, ate too much, and experienced a little less financial stress this year. Thanks to some agreements with very understanding friends, we let ourselves exchange heartfelt cards instead of gifts. I hope we can continue that tradition in the future. Charles (hubby) finally finished off all of the Chex party mix- I think it might be his favorite part of the holidays! We also made homemade thin mints according to Laura's recipe. Thank you, Laura. :) Charles got me many of the Star Wars Galactic Heroes toys that I didn't yet have (I collect them- I know, I'm a nerd!). I updated my resume, started watching Macross Frontier, continued reading a great book about cadavers ("Stiff: the Curious Life of Human Cadavers" by Mary Roach), took a break from donating plasma, and started to learn how to drive a stick shift. Boy, am I tired! :) It was a great break, but I also got a lot done. That's the best kind of vacation!

I hope that if you read this, you had a very merry Christmas, and I wish you a happy and prosperous New Year!