Where Have I Been?

Surprise! It's me! Thought you might never see me again, didn't you? Weeell, that's not the case.

Where have I been?

The same place, honestly. Life's been just the same, I've just been lazy--I think.

The more I think about it the less that feels right to say, though. I looked at my last post, and I remember where I was at the time. My niece was due any day, I'd just started working as receiving manager, and school was kicking my butt a little.

To update all of that: 

My niece was born October 11th and is literally the cutest baby in the world. I will not be taking arguments on that. It's a fact. On the right was her on Easter...

School isn't kicking my butt much this semester, but I am down to my last two semesters after this one! I just signed up for classes and am both really excited and more than a little freaked out. It feels a lot like it did when I was finishing up undergrad and have this kind of precipice coming toward me. I've got some time, but it feels more important than it did the last time around. I mean, I've only spent how many thousands of my parents and my own dollars on my (soon to be!) two degrees and I don't feel as if I've got much to show for it, you know? No pressure!

As for work, well, that's complicated. My store manager's father, who she went on leave in September to take care of, passed away in January, and she came back. But then our actual receiving manager (whose job I had been filling while she was promoted up because the SM was gone) put in her notice, which had me thinking maybe I'd get that job... Only to have that position, as well as a couple of other full time positions, go away for the company. So now I'm in this fun limbo where I'm back to my old job of kid's lead, but I'm acting as receiving manager. And not only am I acting as receiving manager (and not receiving any additional pay), but I'm also doing all of the kid's lead work. I'm doing what was previously two full-time jobs in one 40-hour workweek--AND getting paid what I've always been paid. To say I'm getting fed up is an understatement.

And I think work is why I haven't pushed myself back here sooner. I go to work and feel like I have to push myself for 8 hours a day every day, trying to somehow keep up with the amount of work two of us used to keep up with without asking for help. The people at my store are actually wonderful, though. The management staff is really supportive and tries to help me as much as possible, but our company is just pushing, pushing, pushing and we're going to break at some point. So, be nice to the booksellers when you're in Barnes & Noble! We're STRESSED.

However, I have had to keep a sort of blog for one of the classes I'm in this semester, and it's really reminded me of how much I loved blogging. When I'm writing posts for that, I'm wishing they were for this--and that's the impetus I needed.



Now, to get away from all of the serious stuff, I'm gonna share some of what I've been enjoying the last six months!

First and foremost on that is anime. Like, as a whole. I'd previously loved some Studio Ghibli movies, but my best friend finally convinced me to watch a show and I've been obsessed ever since! I've had so much fun finding shows and really figuring out what kinds of things I like. It's a whole new world and there's just so much to watch that I don't know what to watch first!

As an extension of that, I started reading manga and graphic novels as well. With manga, I've stuck mostly to ones from shows I've watched and need more from, but I've picked up individual ones here and there. I really can't afford to buy a bunch, so I'm stuck using what my library has--which is not extensive AT ALL. As for graphic novels, I've only dipped my toe in there too, but the series that got me started was Saga. I decided to give it a try and was obsessed from then on. I've read them all and don't want to wait for more!

Otherwise, here are some of the books I've loved since I've been gone:

You'll probably see a review of Emergency Contact, since I just read that. And somehow that's... it? When I say I've been reading manga, it's probably 2/3 or even 3/4 of the 40 or so books I've read so far this year?

Anyway, I'd love to hear what's going on with y'all! I see some maintenance I need to do on here, and hopefully I can get myself on a posting schedule. Also, I'm planning to be at ALA in New Orleans in June--anybody else going??