Merry Christmas to All!

We are heading home to St. Louis for the Christmas holiday. Presents are (almost) packed, sweaters have been found, and the pet sitter has been called in. I'm almost giddy about seeing my breath in the air for the first time; finally, I will know it's Christmas!

During the rush of buying presents, plane tickets and wool socks, I've found it easy to disregard the real meaning of Christmas - simply that we should celebrate the birth of Jesus and the promises that He brought with Him.

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33

Have a wonderful Christmas and a promising New Year.

Love,
Michelle

Comparisonitis

Once the excitement of living in a new place dies down a bit, it's natural to start the comparisons between the "before life" and the "after life". I try hard not to do it on a daily basis, because as the Sara Groves song says, you can't go back to the way things were, and well, they weren't always as great as you think they were anyway.

All that aside, here are the differences between there and here:

• I miss friends most of all
• Walking to downtown St. Charles for the Scarecrow Festival and Geneva for dinner with Jason and Jenna
• My colleagues at STCPL
• Our church, Christ Community Church, and its amazing leader, Pastor Jim
• Having Mondays off to take Bandit to the dog park
• Feeling a part of a smaller, very devoted community

But, here:

• Much more cultural diversity
• The sunshine, the sunshine, the sunshine
• New friends who I've met and haven't met yet
• New opportunities to make our impressions on the community surrounding us - be it Tampa, a church or a non-profit organization
• The ability to try new things - sea kayaking, swimming in the ocean, feeding pelicans

One of the biggest challenges has been finding a church that fits right. Christ Community in St. Charles was well-established and had around 3,000 members. The church we've frequented here has about 100 people, meets in a middle school, and has been around for a year. Big difference, eh?

The thing that we've been holding onto very tightly these past three months is that God has brought us here for a purpose. The changes may be uncomfortable at best and heart-wrenching at worst, but we grip to the belief that the time here isn't wasted.

~M

What I Do

Some people have asked what I do now that I'm in my new role with a corporate library. In the bigger scheme of things, it's very much the same as what I used to do at STCPL. The main differences are that I don't see my patrons face to face, and the depth of the research has increased.

I've become the wiki guru for the department as we look at ways to communicate better. So I'm still in my techielibrarian role, which is fine with me!

My group of librarians are all being assigned particular industries to specialize in. I was handed an industry that I never expected - the CIPS, or consumer & industrial products & services. Basically it means that I provide research support to my colleagues who deal with industries such as paper & packaging, automotive, utilities & energy, manufacturers, etc. Someone else already had the retail industry. :)

Since the company is so geographically diverse, we accept incoming requests via an online submission form (for you STCPLers, think a version of QuestionPoint.) Once I get a following, people will start to call and email requests directly. It makes for some creative reference interviews when it's all via computer or voice.

Some of the questions I've been working on:

• Processing costs from start to finish of calcium carbonate
• Legislation on the new FCC VOIP 911 order
• Examples of user-generated advertising campaigns

Overall, I feel as if I'm flexing my research muscles a bit more with the new role. The questions are much more diverse and interesting than I had anticipated, and it's been great fun learning all of the new snazzy databases. I'm continually amazed at the amount of information that people have thought to organize into a database.

To get my public library fix, J and I go to the local branch almost every weekend. It makes me happy to see how well used it is - people buzzing away on their laptops, kids running around with books spilling out of their arms, teenagers reading the current Seventeen issue... I believe we OD'd last time we were there, because we have 30-something items currently checked out. Wheee!

~m

Weird Things About Florida, Part II

This is a sign that's posted outside on the patio of the staff cafeteria at my new work. If that doesn't make you want to run screaming back inside, I don't know what would.

Monterey for a Few Days

I'm here in Monterey, CA for the Internet Librarian conference. I've wanted to attend for several years now and have the fortune to attend after only a month at my new job. (Maybe my boss is trying to tell me something?!). It's my first time visiting here, and I have the urge to send for J, Ziggy, Bandit, Mr Fish and a few belongings and stay for awhile. The weather is gorgeous (70 and sunny) and the sea lions are loud. I had some time to visit the Aquarium, which was quite a treat - the otters are so charming.

Otherwise, I attended a preconference today with several esteemed speakers, including Mary Ellen Bates (who I've decided I want to be when I grow up), Chris Sherman, Greg Notess and Gary Price. IL is a conference of about 1,000 people and has been in existence for 10 years. It is quite cutting edge for the library world, but useful in application. It's also one of the most unique mixes of librarians at a conference that I've seen. At ALA, it's mostly public and academic librarians, SLA is specials, AALL for law, etc. Today at lunch, our table was comprised of a vendor for an M&A database, a public librarian, one academic and two corporates. I like the mix of conversation that results when we all bring very different experiences to the literal table.

Lots of fun websites were mentioned at the session today; here are just a few for your surfing pleasure: Zillow, LibraryThing.com, Clusty (search engine that clusters results), Farecast (predicts airline ticket prices), Kayak, SeatGuru, MyHeritage (facial recognition meets genealogy) and Corkd.com (wine recommendations). I would link to all of these, but Blogger seems to be having issues at the moment. Finally, for a good laugh, fire up Google and type in "answer to life, the universe and everything" and see what the Google calculator spits back. For Douglas Adams fans, it's a riot. Ask me later what the number means if you're not sure.

Well, it's 8:25 here, but feels like 11:25, Tampa Time. I also walked 3 miles this evening for a Chipotle burrito so I am feeling quite wiped out. ("Hello, my name is Michelle and I am addicted to Chipotle.")

On a final note, I'm asking for your suggestions of books that you've read lately that you loved - or hated, so I can avoid them like the plague. With the new job, I don't get to read Library Journal or Booklist anymore; I am out of the loop of new book reviews and really missing it. One of these days I'm going to set up a paperback book exchange for the research group. So please, email me your suggestions!

Goodnight all,
Michelle

Seasonal Confusion

Getting used to the seasonal change (or lack thereof) will be a challenge. The sweaters and wool jackets have appeared suddenly in the stores, but it's difficult to take them seriously when the average temperature is still 89 degrees and holding.

Native Floridians look at the seasons much differently than those who are imports do. I found this out while talking to a lifetime resident of Dunedin, FL. I commented to her how strange it was to see the fall fashions out in force. After a quizzical look, she said, "Why? It's September already!" Ah, now I understand: Floridians judge the seasons by the calendar, while the rest of us know fall by the leaves changing color, the crispness in the air, and the cool temperatures at night.

Otherwise, we've spent several wonderful evenings on the Clearwater beach, watching the sunsets.

Pictures of Bandit, just because he's cute

Oh my, I am one of those sick people that forces their photographs of their dogs on unwitting friends. But to my defense, I just signed up for a Flickr account and I want to test it. So there. Enjoy all the fuzzy cuteness.

Hi ho, hi ho...

..it's off to the commute I go. It's now about 35-45 minutes travel time to get to work, depending on if I leave at 7:10 or 7:20. I hadn't seen the sun rise in quite some time before this, and the Florida sun strikes me as different. It's just so happy to be there, making the citrus crops grow and warming up the wet grass from the previous night's rain.

The positive part about the commute (besides developing a deep relationship with the brake pedal) is that I get to listen to long blocks of books on CD. Sarah Vowell is currently residing in the player, reading her book Assassination Vacation. Sarah is a guest on NPR's This American Life fairly frequently, but she is probably more well-known for her voice as Violet (I think, but it's too late at night to fact-check the name) in The Incredibles movie. Sarah has an oddly appealing, squeaky-girl voice that makes a funny juxtaposition with the topic of the book: her pilgrimmage to visit sites around the US that have to do with the assassinations of Lincoln, Garfield and Kennedy. It sounds morbid, but somehow Sarah strikes just the right balance between fascinating historical facts and quirky stories about her childhood and current paranoias (driving a car and heights, among others). While the print version is certainly worthwhile, take the time to listen to the audio. Also on audio is Sarah's The Partly Cloudy Patriot. I'm waiting for her other one, Pass the Cannoli, to be released, but I might not hold my breath.

Time for sleep. Those sunny mornings come early these days.

~m

Weird Things About Florida, Part I

1. Pink houses. They're all over the place...not to mention the ones accented in bright cheery teal. To a born and bred Midwesterner, this is taking some getting used to.

2. Rent-to-own wheel places. Yes, you can rent hubcabs with the potential to buy after a certain lease time. There are three of these stores on my way to work, so it's obviously quite the popular plan.

More later, I'm sure.

Blast off...

Hello Friends,

M and I headed over to the coast this morning. We packed up the Jeep with beach towels, waters, sunscreen, and of course Bandit. After a short commute we arrived at Honeymoon Island. Honeymoon Is. is a medium sized key about 15 miles due West from our place. It's known locally for it's free standing porch swings that are pre-positioned to take in the unobstructed view of the sunset. We haven't had a chance to view the sunset there yet but it's on the list.

Also on the list is to migrate over to the East coast to see a shuttle launch first hand. We were able to see the vapor trail from the launch this morning. It was amazing to see just how fast that thing is traveling as it rockets out of the Earth's gravitational grips.

This evening we're headed over to Ybor City (pronounced Eebor City). Ybor is located near the heart of Tampa and is known for it's Cuban-influenced restaurants, clubs, shops, and of course cigar stores.

Hope all is well with you. Our phone still isn't up and running (don't ask), but of course you can always email us to keep in touch.

Where the Wild Things Are

The wildlife of FL is certainly different from the midwest. It's been fun getting to know all the common wild things around us. Most prevalent (besides the "palmetto bugs", but we won't get into that) are the small lizards that dart around everywhere. They shoot across the sidewalk, cling to the sides of the house and climb up the lanai screen. The Florida variety of lizards aren't the push-ups Southwest lizards; they're smaller and lower to the ground, often with sleek brown racing stripes.

We've also spotted several egrets (close cousin to the regret, of course) fishing in the pond in our backyard. Egrets are enormous white birds with long orange beaks, and they look quite regal standing by the edge of the water.

Chiggers are common in the South, as my parents can vouch (they live on the big rock known as Arkansas). Warning: Don't click on the link if you're squimish about bug/human relations. You really can avoid chiggers if you never, ever go off of paved surfaces.

We haven't seen any alligators yet, although I am warily keeping an eye out when I walk Bandit. I don't want them emerging from the many large pools of water that surround our house and munching on our ankles.

For more info about the wildlife of Florida, go to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's website. Or read one of Carl Hiaasen's books.

~mc

Need a box or two, or 50?

Hello all,

It's with much joy I'm writing this post from my own desk. Over the last 7 days we've laughed several times at the withdrawal symptoms we've gone through not having access to the web. It's surprising how quickly we become dependant on a technology only to realize that dependency once denied access to said indulgence. Fortunately the tremors and night sweats weren't too bad. I think we'd have simply lost it if we hadn't had access to the cell phone... How people moved before cell phones, e-mail, and the web is beyond me.

We've spent the last three days unpacking the house. At this point we're through about 3/4 of the boxes. The delivery day was this past Friday. Our moving truck arrived at 9:00 and pulled out at 2:15. Unfortunately it rained the whole time we were unloading. Outside of the rain, the unloading was fairly uneventful. Only a couple things were broken or scarred. Thankfully, Michelle's library cabinet made it without issue. That was the one piece I was most concerned with.

Friday afternoon and most of Saturday we were both a buzz with excitement and energy. It was kind of like Christmas morning but without the true surprise as to what was behind the clear packing tape and reams of packing paper. Friday night we called it quits around 7 and headed out for some hot wings with some friends from my office.

Friday didn't come off completely without a hitch. As the rain came down I realized mid storm that the roofers who had put on a new roof the day before didn't properly connect the downspout by the front door. Unfortunately, the waterfall from the roof didn't completely stay outside. Before I could get out there to correct the problem several gallons managed to get in between the wall and the dining room window. As the wet stuff found its way to the lowest point that turned out to be in the middle of the dinning room. So, as the unloading carried on, we realized that the front room really began to smell like wet carpet (or worse). Several phone calls later, one trip to the local Publix for a Rug Doctor rental, and finally a run to Home Depot for a carpet drying fan we've begun the drying process. Thankfully, this morning the carpet and pad were dry and the smell had all but gone.

Saturday of course had a bump or two. Thinking we had passed the half-way point last night we decided to take a walk up to the local strip mall for a frozen yogurt treat at the TCBY. With Bandit leading the charge we forged our way through the swamp err'... I mean subdivision. Things were going fine until we headed back home. We made it about 2 blocks and Bandit put on the brakes. He simply stopped walking. At first we thought he was just tired, so we slowed down and waited for him. That didn't work. He had given up. It must have just been too hot for him. (it was 9:00 at night mind you) So thinking something was really wrong, I ran the mile or so back to the house to get the truck. Michelle stayed with Bandit. When I returned to where I left them, they weren't there. Fortunately, I caught them in the corner of my eye a block and a half further back down the trail. (Closer to the TCBY). Backing up to where they were I thought Michelle had just walked him in circles until I returned. As she loaded him in the cab it became apparent that wasn't the case. His harness was on sideways and Michelle looked like she had seen a ghost. Apparently right after I took off running, Bandit decided he really didn't want to go any further and started to pull on his leash, backwards. In doing so he managed to slip out of his harness. According to Michelle, he then made a 180 and took off running at full tilt straight back toward the 6 lane main drag. Darting into traffic, stopping one car, and about to run into more, a fellow walker saw what was going on and called to him. Being the people lover he is, he ran right to him. Thankfully he was able to grab his scruff and hold him until Michelle could catch up. All this in the 3:45 min it takes me to run a mile.. Riiight.. ok it was probably more like 8 minutes. Anyway, thankfully we got him back unharmed.

Needless to say getting back to the mundane unpacking routine today has been a nice change of pace given the roller coaster of events from the last couple days.

This evening we're headed out to check out a new church. Hopefully it's a connection the first time around. We've only been away from Christ Community and we both already miss it.

I'll cut this one off here for now. We need to get ready to head out.

Hope you all have a great labor day weekend.
Your friend,
J

On Things You Need When You Move

Some recommendations for items to take with you if you ever move across the country and won't have access to your stuff for a week:

~ Something sharp. (Scissors, knife, leatherman, whatever). Otherwise, it's a pain to get boxes open and you feel like you're back in kindergarten with those annoying blunt-edged scissors.

~ A table and chairs. We've been sitting on the kitchen island to eat. Not fun.

~ Walkie-talkies for the drive down. We bought a couple of 12-mile walkie-talkies and they were extremely useful for the Noah's ark caravan that we had going on.

~ Snacks for when you get to the house at 7 p.m. We were starving and split a granola bar. Then we ordered a big pizza.

~ Plastic cups. These have come in handy for just about everything - cleaning the fish's bowl, drinking out of (not the same cups), watering half-dead plants.

There are lists all over the internet that helped, but these are things we found especially helpful.

Tampa or Bust

We made it safely to Tampa on Tuesday night. Ernesto was here in small force to greet us - but thankfully, we didn't need to stop for a generator and Vienna sausages at the local grocery store. For the last few days, it's been the Slightly Cloudy With a Chance of Rain State instead of the Sunshine State. That hasn't stopped us from getting in the pool, though.

Is it hot? Yes, but it's bearable. Is it humid? Ask my white-girl 'fro. I've used a bottle of gel already. Ah the joys of frizzy hair...

Jason and I just signed up for our Hillsborough County Library cards. A joyous moment! I was waiting on pins and needles for the "official piece of business mail" that we could use to prove that we wouldn't spirit away any library materials back to Illinois. Our internet service won't be hooked up to the house until Sunday, so we're using the Upper Tampa Bay Regional Public Library to get our fix. The UTBRPL is a new, bright local branch library with about 25 books on CD. I hope the Hold shelf knows what's coming.

Yesterday we spent exploring the local shopping complexes. There's something to be said for the spread of common stores across the US - we were able to find fish filters and Ziggy's brand of food at the Petsmart down the street, and the Publix (grocery) carries the right brand of chocolate milk. I guess it's comforting to see the Tarjay right down the street!

Otherwise, we'll be exploring Ybor City, the parks system, and hopefully get down to the Keys sometime. At the moment we're just hoping our furniture arrives here safely tomorrow.

Macon our way South.... Macon GA. that is.

Hello friends,

Michelle and I have now made it to Macon GA. We decided to make the trip from Edwardsville a three day route as opposed to two as originally planned. The second leg was just going to be too much windshield time. Not to mention that we wanted an additional 24 hours to see where Ernesto was going to end up. It appears that our (my) concerns of encountering a hurricane are about to be addressed with the ole` fashion emersion technique. As I type this, it appears that we'll be in the house for about 20 hours before Ernetso blows through. Thankfully, it doesn't appear he'll have too much umph.

It's been a real gas traveling with three animals, two cars, and one wife. Fortunately, the wife can drive one of the cars. Just kidding, Michelle. Little did I realize that stopping at a rest stop would turn into a half hour long exercise worthy of a degree in Event Planning. It wouldn't be so bad if we didn't have to worry about keeping the cars cool for traveling farm. I'm sure you can imagine the dance that lunch stops have become. All in all, it's been a breeze. Hopefully tomorrow will be more of the same.

JC

On Our Way

We've stopped over in Edwardsville for the night. Yesterday, the Caulk side of the family plus my aunt plus friends from high school came over to the park to celebrate and see us off. Gotta love the parties! It was wonderful to see everyone and we were touched that everyone made the effort to give us the big bon voyage.

It was interesting to see how the packers and movers work on Thursday and Friday. They even packed the Jeep into the semi-trailer. It's very strange to see the whole of your belongings packed by strangers and loaded into a truck that you won't see for another week. But, I'm glad we didn't have to do it ourselves. Probably I would have ended up rocking away in a corner from all of the stress!

Ziggy (the cat), Bandit (the dog), Mr. Fish (the fish) and Miss Buns (the bunny) did just fine as we were traveling from St Charles to Edwardsville. We put Mr. Fish into a thermos and popped the lid open so he could breathe. He seems to like his new minimalist home. Ziggy mostly slept, as is his nature. Bandit was treated to his very own Culver's butterburger - heaven on earth for the pups.

It's time to shove off for the drive to Chattanooga. We've decided to stop in Macon, GA for a night and then continue on to Tampa. It was just too far from Choo-Choo to Tampa.

Hopefully we can find a wireless spot in either TN or GA. Until then, know that we miss you all!

~mc

Moving Resource

A friend recently gave me the book After the Boxes are Unpacked by Susan Miller. I've just started it, but it seems like a great resource for dealing with the highs and lows of relocation. She also has a web site with a list of classes called "Moving On After Moving In". I'm definitely going to check those out.

-mc

Sat Picnic Recap

Sat afternoon was yet another lovely and bittersweet marker as we continue the countdown to Move day. Around 3:00 or so we headed over to Baker park (the park just two houses North of us) to lay out the picnic spread. With a late invite we were please to learn that anyone could join us. Over the next few hours we shared some pretty decent grub, some good wiffle ball, and even better laughs with friends. We mingled at the park until just before dark. I don't think either Michelle or I could have asked for a better afternoon. We were just pleased to see so many friends take some time out of the day to stop by and wish us well in our up coming journey.

Once we got back to the house we did the ole' kitchen hang out with the Walsh's for another hour or so. Shortly after they left there was just enough time to clean up, and crash on the couch. Nothing like a day of fresh air and romping around the play ground with a couple of our favorite 2 year olds to wipe a guy out.

Again, thanks to you all for stopping by. We really appreciate the effort.

J

Thanks for the Memories

If you ever need to keep a secret, a secret... tell a librarian. As a final send-off, I was treated to a complete surprise party by my friends and colleagues from the Library on Friday evening. I thought a small group of us were going out for Mexican food and margaritas, but to my delight the whole crew was present to help celebrate. If you ask Jane nicely, perhaps she will do a rendition of her original song, Don't Cry for Her, Melville Dewey. It will go down in history as perhaps one of the most original, and hilarious, renditions of an Andrew Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice song sung at a Library going-away party.

So my final day at the Library was Friday. It was with both sadness and a grateful heart that I packed my two boxes and said good-bye. (Personally, I can't believe everything fit into just two boxes. My apologies to our maintenance person, who will discover the recycle bins on Monday.) To put it lightly, I have grown incredibly in the past six years. I've learned how to provide customer service to people that perhaps should consider picking up their meds again... how to show an impatient teenager that there's life beyond Google... and how public libraries contain within them some of the most dedicated, intelligent people I'll ever come across.

On Saturday morning, one of the first things Jason said to me was, "So, how does it feel to be unemployed?" Yes, it's true, at least for the next two weeks. I'm grateful for the time that we'll have to transition to our new life. I'm grateful that I get to take the dog for long walks around the neighborhood for a few last times. Things are just ebbing and flowing around us, to-do lists growing shorter as the time to leave town draws closer.

I can't thank God enough for His calming presence in our lives these past few months! - mc

Caulk's Road Show

Thursday August 17th:

To bring you all up to speed... This past June Michelle and I decided to accept an invitation from my employer Masonite to relocate to Tampa Florida. Since then Michelle has found what appears to be an awesome opportunity at Price Waterhouse Coopers as a Sr. Business Researcher. She's decided to depart from the traditional librarian role to explore more indepth research projects in the corporate world. I'll be taking on a new role within Masonite as the Director of Product and Data Management.

As the definition of both new roles firmed up in late July we headed South to find a house. We used the weekend of August 4th through the 8th to locate the next spot we'll drop anchor. In just 4 days we toured what seemed like a thousand homes for sale, only to decide that renting was the best way for us to go in the short term. We're not sure we'll like owning a pool... riiiight.

The house we ended up finding turned out to be a dream come true. It's a 4 bedroom / 2 bath / 2 car garage / with a pool and fenced in back yard. How could we pass that up....

Tuesday the 8th we signed the lease 2 hours before we had to get back on the plane for Chicago.

That night (the 8th) we met with our Realtor team and finally decided to sell our beloved house here in St Charles. Suzanne and Tim the realtors gave us a little to do list to tackle before we listed. Starting that night we began the transformation. Over the next 5 days we packed up half the house, repainted the kitchen, tore up carpet in the second bedroom, re-arranged the basement, and last but not least finished and installed a new front door.

(The pictures I've attached are the fruits of our efforts.)

This last Tuesday we met with Suzanne to get the house listed. Tuesday afternoon the house went live in the MLS system and by noon the next day we had an offer!!! Talk about an answered prayer. God is so good!

So now you know the background. From here on out we'll use this site to update and post comments and pictures from our journey South. Hopefully you'll join us for the ride and eventually come visit!

Jas