Sesame Pasta Chicken Salad and Updates

So it was announced on Tuesday that we have two people transferring from our branch. One of whom is B, my supervisor. :( I'm really bummed, things just aren't going to be the same without him there. But I am happy for him -he's leaving because he's been promoted to Assistant Branch Manager, which is really great. His last day is tomorrow, and luckily I'll be working. It's going to be a bittersweet day, I'm sure.

On Wednesday, we had a going away luncheon for him and the other girl who is leaving (she also got a promotion, yay!). I don't work on Wednesdays, but I went in anyway for the luncheon because I wanted to be there, and brought a pasta salad. When my co-worker who was in charge of putting the event together told me to bring a pasta salad I was like... "uh... I've never made one of those, but okay!" (I associate pasta salads with mayonnaise, which I can't stand.) So I checked my favorite recipe site and found a recipe for a "Sesame Pasta Chicken Salad." Here's the link to the original, but here it is with the alterations I made:

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup sesame seeds
• 1 (16 ounce) package bow tie pasta
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 1/3 cup rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 3 tablespoons white sugar
• 1/2 tablespoon fresh ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 3 cups shredded, cooked chicken breast meat
• 1/3 cup chopped green onion
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 yellow bell pepper
• 1 cup julienne carrots

Directions:

1. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Add sesame seeds, and cook stirring frequently until lightly toasted. Remove from heat, and set aside.
2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta, and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, or until al dente. Drain pasta, and rinse under cold water until cool. Transfer to a large bowl.
3. In a jar with a tight-fitting lid, combine vegetable oil, soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, sugar, sesame seeds, ginger, and pepper. Shake well.
4. Pour sesame dressing over pasta, and toss to coat evenly. Gently mix in chicken and vegetables.

It was so good, and definitely gets better the longer it's refrigerated so the flavors can meld together.

I'm so looking forward to people's participation in the SRP now, especially after getting your comments on my last post! And 2 people have already filled out the form! Yay! I also got to fill it out for the first time, because I finished Charlaine Harris's latest, Dead Reckoning, today before work (review to follow soon)!

Work was rather bizarre today... the storms threw everyone off I think. We lost power briefly, and the lights kept flickering enough to shut the computers off a couple of times. It was crazy to watch out in the parking lot with the rain just pouring down and the trees been blown practically sideways. Someone also managed to drive their mini van up on the sidewalk when they were trying to leave. We had a leak inside the building.

And, when I was on my break and sitting in the breakroom, I noticed this woman walk slowly by the opening, but I couldn't see her very well at all so I just ignored it because she went into the staff bathroom. Then, as she was leaving, I got a better look at her and it was a mom with a walking toddler and a baby in a stroller. And it was a "huh, that's weird, she shouldn't be back here but maybe she was sent back here for some reason," moment, and then I heard one of my co-workers say, "Ma'am?" When she was confronted about it, she said she had seen the sign for the bathroom, when the sign clearly says "STAFF ONLY." And then she went on to just shrug it off and ask if she could check books out off the cart. T, my co-worker, said she was clearly not all there, and the first time she had seen her that night she was just hanging out on the floor next to our hold shelves. Go figure.

The last day of school is tomorrow! That means no more after school special. And, we're only open until 3 because it is a Friday, so it'll be a short one!

Summer Reading Program!!

School is letting out, and that probably means it's time for Summer Reading Programs at a library near you. If you were like me, many of you will remember getting out stacks of books and keeping your log over the summer of books that you read, and then taking it in and getting prizes... stickers, certificates, bookmarks, books, etc. I was pretty bummed when I found out that the SRP didn't apply to anyone over teenage level (not that I really would have had time to participate while I was in college...).

But now I'm out of college, and surrounded by SRP fun at the library (we got to decorate after our staff meeting the other day!), so I've decided that I'm going to participate in my own Summer Reading Program... and I want you to participate with me!

First, set a goal for how many books you want to read over the summer (as many as possible counts :) ). Then, between today (May 23) and August 13th, read! I've created a form (you can access it below, or I'll be making a static page for easy access), and all you have to do is fill it out and I'll have a spreadsheet that logs what you've read! (Make sure to use the same name for yourself each time for easier tracking.)

And, in true SRP fashion, I'll have "stickers" and "bookmarks" for you to print out or put on your blog soon. And, you'll get a certificate for participating. :D

If you have any questions or comments, please comment below! I look forward to seeing what everyone's reading!

Happy Birthday Baby Face :)

Happy Friday everyone! Here's a laugh to start your weekend :)

The following was found during the after school special (the magical time when the local high and middle school students swarm and hang out at the library) yesterday. In case you can't read it, I have provided a transcription for "easy" reading.

Happy Birthday Baby Face :)

Waddup Baby face

I remeber the 1st time we met was at your game

You was shy and you didn't even wanna give me a kiss instead you gave me candy LMAOO!!, but after that we became friends

I love you like a fat kid love cookies!!!

Better yet more than you love basketball!!! and we know that a lot.

Whenever I got some bad goin on I always talk to you about it. You never seem to fail me. I'm writting this b/c this is how I feel about from the bottom of my heart. You are so important to me like an heart and a liver :)

I love our silly convos and your goofy stories. It always cheers me up

I apprieciate God for [giving] me one of his best angles we[?]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABYFACE!

Love,

Teddy bear

We Won! (and a mini Review - Something Borrowed)

It was officially announced a couple of days ago that GCPL did win the For Dummies contest, so we will be getting 1600 For Dummies books added to our collection (over 100 books per branch)! :) Thanks to those of you who helped us out!

Not much has been new at the library lately. We have a staff meeting on Wednesday, so maybe there will be some news then. I'm not sure what's going to be discussed, but I enjoy it when everyone who works at the branch is there at the same time. Maybe I'll make some cupcakes or cookies or something. Any ideas?

I just finished reading Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin. I really want to see the movie, but I have this mental block where most of the time I can't watch the movie unless I've read the book first. It's basically because while I don't mind going into a movie knowing what's going to happen, I'd rather not go into a book with the ending ruined. Especially when, in my opinion, books are generally better than their movie counterparts, so it's that much more of a disappointment.

But, in a nutshell, I really enjoyed Something Borrowed. Emily Giffin's a great writer, and I'm looking forward to reading more of her stuff when I can (i.e. when I get through the 6 million other books I have out at the moment). If you're into romance novels (the chick-flick kind, not the raunchy kind), then I suggest you read it. I give it a 4.5 (out of 5).

Review - City of Bones

I first noticed Cassandra Clare's City of Bones, the first book in the Mortal Instruments Series, a few months ago when I started working at the library. When I see that a book is circulating a lot, I instantly take note of it, and when a copy finally comes through without a hold on it, I'll check it out. So that, coupled with B's suggestion that I read it, I figured pretty much meant I was going to like it. And I did!

The book starts when 15-year-old Clary heads out to a NYC Club with her best friend, Simon. Once there, she witnesses a murder committed by a group of teenagers with strange weapons and even stranger tattoos. Clary's prepared to call the police, but then the body just disappears into thin air and she discovers that the murderers can't be seen by anyone but her.

From this point on, Clary enters the world of the Shadowhunters, warriors who's life purpose is to rid the world of demons. Within 24 hours of the murder, Clary's life is turned upside down. Her mother disappears, she is attacked by a demon, and she meets Jace, a gorgeous Shadowhunter, but a class-A jerk.

But the question is why would demons be interested in mundanes like Clary and her mother at all? You'll just have to read it yourself and find out!

I really enjoyed this book. It wasn't particularly moving, and there were moments that it was very information-heavy, but I still thought it was exciting and compelling, the characters were well-developed, and it was just a fun read. I can't wait to read the second book in the series, City of Ashes. I recommend City of Bones to anyone looking to start a new fantasy series. It is classified as a young adult fiction novel, so it's written at a somewhat younger level, but the writing is good, so I didn't really notice it that much. But I definitely give City of Bones 4.5 (out of 5) stars!

A fun side note... I'm pretty sure Cassandra Clare got her start writing Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings fanfiction. I think that's pretty cool... going from fanfiction to published author.

Reason #X I Love My Job

So a short story from yesterday that made me smile...

I was shelving over in children's when a mother and her daughter (adorable, red-hair and freckles, about 8) approached me, asking if we had a copy of Nanny McPhee (the book). There was a novelization made of the book, and after looking where it should have been and not finding it, I went to the front desk and asked B to look to see if we had a copy of it. He looked, and found that it was indeed checked out, so I went back to tell the mom and daughter that we didn't have a copy in the branch, but they could request it. Mom was upset, because she had looked online ahead of time and it said it was in, and they needed it that day for some reason.. maybe for a project or something, I don't know. The daughter just looked upset.

They went to sit together and read Rumpelstiltskin, and I went back to shelving. Then I remembered that Nanny McPhee was based on The Collected Tales of Nurse Matilda, by Christianna Brand. Luckily, we had a copy of that, so I hunted it down, and when they were finished reading, I brought it to them and explained, "These are the original books that Nanny McPhee was based on." The little girl smiled excitedly and thanked me, as did her mother, and they both thanked me again as they were leaving. So the rest of my shift I was just happy that I had done that something extra to help them have a positive library experience. Yeah... it's cheesy, but oh well :)

Be Jealous...

... I checked this out of the library today. I'm pretty excited! What's your favorite School House Rock song?

Today was another semi-busy day at the library. I spent my time in the bomb room and shelving in children's (no exciting customer interactions today though, unfortunately). I also had my 6 month review today (which woah, I can't believe I've already been at the library for 6 months...), and I did pretty well. Yay. :) I even got two 4s ("Sets the bar for others by going the extra mile") in "Processing Materials" and "Collection Appearance." J attributes the latter to my slight OCD... and the former mostly from my 35 minute cart the other day (turns out I don't have to do an hour test after all).

Also, thank you soo much to those of you who went and liked the GCPL For Dummies page!! We haven't heard officially from the For Dummies reps, but we're pretty sure we won! 1600 For Dummies books for our library system! That's over 100 per branch! Hooray! :D