Sometimes I Write

Today I’m blogging about my love for the Denver Public Library. It. Is. Awesome.

The central library is a 540,000 square foot monstrosity of “public happiness.” Designed by world-renowned architect Michael Graves, the library opened its doors in 1995. The building is a work of art, but nothing compared to the beauty it houses. Just for fun, here’s the Lego version, which we’ve seen in person. Click on the picture to visit the page where the creator posted detailed pictures:

My children and I love spending lazy afternoons perusing the shelves for our next treasured book, and reading in the pavilion. Even though the children’s wing is on the first floor, we always visit the upper floors so they can ride on the escalators. Visiting the library has been a regular occurrence since they were born, but as they grow into independent readers, our library trips have taken on a whole new dimension of fun. They love having their own library cards and checking out their own books. What do I love?

• They have almost everything I want to read, and if they don’t, they will order it from another library for me.
• The staff is always friendly and helpful.
• Their online catalog system makes it easy to put items on hold and pick up at my convenience.
• They email me a few days before my books are due back so I can avoid overdue fines, and they have a grace period of about a week before assessing fines, which I would never need. Ahem. 😉
• They have a huge selection of audio and e-books.
• They have a great summer reading program for my kids. Last summer over 31,000 Denver area children and teens participated in the summer reading program. That doesn’t include the other library districts in the metro area.
• Their kid’s site offers everything from homework help to book reviews on the latest new titles.

And so much more…

My library card is the key to a vault of treasure, my passport to free adventures, and one of many tools I’m using to shape the young minds in my care. The Denver Public Library partners with me to pull it off, and for that I am so grateful!

Join us for Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers!

Pete drew your name out of the hat, so YOU are the lucky winner of the “Angel of Courage”. Send me your mailing address and I’ll send you your prize.

Thank you to all of my wonderful readers and stay tuned for more give-away opportunities in the near future.

My email account was hacked. grrrrr…

Thankfully I was online at the time and caught the beeping of my email notifier about all of the failed delivery attempts, and quickly changed all of my security info. and passwords for my online accounts. I spent the next 2 hours double checking all of my account settings, running a security scan, and figuring out where the hacker was coming from – not that it does any good. I have an IP address for the hacker but don’t know what to do with it, or if it’s authentic. 😦

I apologize if any of you received spam from me. I believe the problem is fixed THIS time. I’ve had the same passwords for ages, but I believe I’ve learned my lesson on this one.

When is the last time you checked your security settings, changed your password and security questions, etc?

Baubles. Doodads. Tchotchkes. Trinkets. Whatever you call them, I’ve cleaned them out of my house. I actually completed this challenge 3 weeks ago, but I’ve been devoting my online attention to co-creating our new SEVENS website with my husband. Here it is the last day of February and I’m rushing to get this posted. Sheesh. That’s SO “Niki.”

This was an easy one for me. I have finally grasped the difference between hanging on to good memories and relationships instead of hanging on to the STUFF that accumulates from them. I’ve slowly whittled away at my belongings for the last 5 years, so the knickknacks I had left were pieces that I loved and brought me joy. BUT, the quest towards minimalism has made me a bit ruthless; especially with my Willow Tree collection.

(This is not an actual picture of my collection.)

I couldn’t bring myself to just drop them off at the thrift store, so I chose to gift them to friends and donate the rest to our Speech & Debate team for their fund-raising garage sale. I did the same with my teapot collection a few years ago, and I haven’t missed them at all. My collecting days are behind me and I now own a total of 7 knickknacks.

I hate dusting, so completing  this month’s challenge was a VERY good thing. 2 months down, 10 to go. I’ve got this!

Remember this is MY journey, not me telling you to get rid of all your sentimental ornaments. You probably have your own list of the things you’d like to de-clutter. Go for it! You’ll be amazed at how good it feels.

In the spirit of de-cluttering *ahem* giving , I’d like to offer the chance to win this “Angel of Courage”. Leave a comment on this post and I’ll draw a winner on Friday, March 4th. Good Luck with the give away and on your own de-cluttering journey!