"I'm sure that was extremely exciting..."

Upon returning from this weekend's extravaganza in the big city, one of my friends asked what I'd been doing.

"I was at a librarian conference for two days..."

That's when the above comment emerged, followed by laughter from several sources.

I continued talking, "...and then I visited my one of my best friends from college."

While I understand that to the outside world a librarian conference sounds eternally lame, for those of us who love our jobs, who were made for our jobs, who believe this to be, essentially, our calling in life, these conferences equip us to better serve our communities. For most of us, that's our goal. We entered a service profession because we like to help people, because we think enabling people to learn at any stage of life can lead to personal betterment for all of them.

Turns out, this conference wasn't bad. In fact, I found it quite interesting, so much so that because of my level of engagement with the material presented, I was brain-dead by the end of the first 16-hour day of activities. The sessions I attended were immediately applicable to quite a few major projects I have going on at work presently, and thus what I absorbed will enable me to produce better learning aids for our students. That, to me, is exciting.

Not only did I learn, but I had fun (surprise of all surprises). I ran into at least three girls that I attended grad school with, ones I'd shared good (and bad) classes with, who had the same mentor as I had. It was lovely to catch up with them, to learn how they like their first professional jobs--the positives and negatives of any library culture. All of us were very grateful to run into each other, as we were traveling from our various libraries alone and, being new to the profession, didn't know anyone.

One of the girls said to me, "Oh, Lana, right? One of my students cited you in a paper they turned in and when I came across your name I thought...I know her. Lana from IU!"

I've been cited by an undergrad! Truly, my scholarly work is spreading (I say this in jest, people. Don't worry, I don't have an over-grown ego. I realize, it was probably a library school student who cited me from the library school student journal.)

During my trip, I was able to meet up with three very good college friends, too: Jenny, Elaine, and Susan.

Jenny and I caught up on the last few years over some coffee one morning, and Elaine and Sus and I had a phenomenal dinner of cornish hens stuffed with lemon and herbs, steamed broccoli, and wine at Elaine's. We sat around discussing our lives over the past two years, which is how long it's been since I'd seen Susan. Much has changed. We're both newly smitten, and Elaine is getting married in August. It was a strange, but beautiful exchange of grown-up considerations, conversations, and a time of reconnection. We've established at least one, maybe two more times this summer that the three of us can get together. That, in and of itself, is eternally exciting!

As Elaine is one of my best friends, my un-related twin, being with her is akin to slipping into my favorite pj's and curling up in front of a fire with an old, favorite book (perhaps The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle). Being with her is comfortable and right. And despite her allergies and current state of sickness, our 24 hours together was thoroughly enjoyable. She is so hospitable and thoughtful, providing me with snacks for the road home and that lovely meal with Sus.

And because my weekend was so spectacular, I had to add one more thing in, though I knew it would cause me to begin this busy week in a sleep-deprived haze...I drove home from Chicago by way of Indy. Which, many of you know, is not very direct. Indirect, but worth it, I must say.

Reasons this weekend rocked

When I started working as a professional in January of 2007, I quickly realized what people mean when they say they live for the weekends. However, at that stage of my life, I didn't have anything exciting going on - I simply enjoyed the break from the work cycle.

This year has brought with it an entirely new facet of living for the weekend. This is part of the reason:
(I did have the wrong bike and the wrong picture. Dang it. I've fixed it, I think.)

And while I'm certainly not the person driving this lovely pile of metal, chrome, and rubber, that doesn't preclude me from treasuring the moments aboard it.

I've learned a lot about myself in recent years. Things like I love riding motorcycles, despite the fact that they've terrified me since the 8th grade when one of my friend's brothers died in a horrible bike accident. I've also learned that I love to communicate and tell stories.
But there's more to it. I've begun to trust people, which is refreshing and liberating. Although I still like to have control, I can now give up some of it to others, which makes my life easier in the long run.

Another major breakthrough in the last year and a half is the discovery that I don't hate games as much I thought I did. Board games, card games, word games, you name it, the Gottschalks play it. The gaming has gotten quite out of control as Evan and Emily joined forces and have created the Game Closet On-the-Go, that is to say, the trunk of Evan's car is a portable game storage unit. I say out of control, and yet we all participate and have a blast every time we meet up because of this unifying force.

On Friday night, some of my friends (Leslie D., Kyle, and Sara W.) joined up with a few other people for a Game Night. It was the second one this semester, and I'm fairly certain we shall continue an every-other-month schedule of such events. Never has there been more laughter--pure, unabashed cackling, giggling, snorting, and silent shaking. One newbie, M.J. has the most contagious laugh ever. He didn't stop laughing all evening. We played MadGab and nearly continued to Pictionary and Win, Lose, or Draw, but discovered a lack of pieces for both. Thus, we ended up on Catch Phrase (a personal fav).

Stories abounded, too. From the moment Leslie, Jessi, and M.J. walked in the door talking about a miscommunication involving pie and a bike, to Sara's kindergarten treasure (it was vomit week for her--as well as school pictures) and her friend Kenzie's fire in the men's locker room story from work, we were rolling. Several times I found my self face-planted on the couch, unable to breathe or sit up.

I love these people, and our evening definitely set the tone for one heck of a weekend.

Knowing what awaits me at work tomorrow (4 classes of freshmen and a mess of a web site), I fully comprehend living for weekends. Spending time with my friends, laughing hysterically, playing games, and cruising around on a hot bike. Who wouldn't want that? How could that not make your day...or week?