Working in libraries for 4 years, I have learned a thing or two about people. I find that there are certain genre's of customers. Here are my observations:

- Embarrassed patron - they don't want to ask you questions and only do so under duress. They usually preface their question with "This is a really stupid question". They feel badly that they interrupted you and try to keep the interaction as short as possible. Reassuring them doesn't seem to do any good, they insist on feeling awful.

- Smarmy guy (or girl) - Cute guy that has learned that if he turns on the charm with the opposite sex they will either get extra help, or can turn a no to a yes. Usually asks you to bend the rules just for them. This type irritates me because on the occasion that I do have to say no and stick with it, their facade falls away and you see their REAL personality. Not pretty at all. Give me an average guy over these types any day of the week.

- Mean old man - Get angry right away about some total reasonable rule. Will not listen to your patient explanation, and demands to complain to the director. Do not bother trying to reason with them if you are female and under the age of 60. They WILL NOT LISTEN and may become belligerent. Just say as little as possible and eventually they will run out of steam and leave.

- Patron that uses your name - as in "Hi Danette, what a pretty name, where does it come from?" Now, this may sound nice, but really, I don't want people using my name. I want to help them, and making weird small talk about my name just wastes time. This type really thinks that they are humanizing you, making it seem that we are on the same level. But I'm not embarrassed to be helping them, so using my name is not necessary. Unless of course they are also wearing a name badge and I can say, "Yes Brad, I would be happy to find that book for you"

- The Normal patron - thankfully 70% of the patrons I deal with are great. They appreciate your quick service and let you know. If they get bad news they take it in stride and don't take it out on you. This is who I strive to be when I go out into the world.

And on the school side let me just say....20% of kids will always ask for a second sucker. They are not happy that they have been given 1 sucker, they feel that 2 suckers would be better and the only way to get one is to ask. Sometimes repeatedly. These types have a future in sales because they never take no for an answer.

New purse, I really love the flower. They are very satisfying in that they are really easy to make, and they look so cute!

Tomorrow is the last day that I will have students in the Media Center. It's been a good year, and it seems like it has gone very quickly. I'm looking forward to the summer, but summer is always strange. 80% of my life is so structured with work and home life, that when I don't have to work in the summer sometimes it's really hard not to slip into lethargy. I'm determined to have daily and weekly goals and to keep all of us from watching TV all day. It's sad that I have to get geared up for that :-)

Some goals I've set are to exercise daily, cook a meal together at least once a week, go for a bike ride together once a week, and to do at least one fun craft thing during each week. Also, read together every day and read my own book every day. Oh, and also to shower every day before noon!

Not overly strenuous goals, but still they still may be hard to keep. Sad but true.

I'm on a kick making purses. I've posted and sold a few on Etsy. I've always had a creative side doing various things, most recently ceramics. But, with two jobs the effort to get out the clay, and work with it was too exhausting and I found myself spending most of my free time surfing the web. So, I decided to start sewing, and it's been a very rewarding process, and not too physically demanding. My latest creation I really like, I added a flower that I made out of my daughter's old jeans, and then added some bead stamens, and I think it is adorable. What do you think?

This time of year I always love and hate my yard. It's a great yard, with lots of landscaping, plants, water features, etc. But, with that comes tons of work, and every spring, tons of cleanup. Not to mention the fact that we also have a dog and so he creates his own special little messes for us to clean up.

Mother's Day was great, everyone, including the snotty teen, went out and spent several hours on various projects. Tree trimming, perennial shaping, digging out the dead stuff, and poop collecting. It looks so much better, and we got out all the patio furniture and had dinner out there. Lovely!