Last night, I had a work anxiety dream. I’d gotten a new job to which I was supposed to report virtually on my start date – it was a telecommuting setup. It was about 3:30 in the afternoon and I was happily thinking about June 23^rd, my first day. Then I looked at a calendar and …oops. It was June 23^rd and I spent the rest of the dream (which was mercifully short) figuring out whether there was any possible way I could fix the damage.

Then, Sweetheart woke me up.

“I had my first work anxiety dream!” I said.

Sweetheart handed me my coffee and we chatted about work anxiety dreams. Four hours later, I was opening farewell gifts from the crew at my volunteer job. Leslie, Rose & Sharon got me three really fabulous lanyards, and Heejin got me some beautiful Korean sticky notes based on Chaekga-do.

From Heejin. They’re sticky notes from Chaekga-do, a fold-screen with shelves full of books. They were folding panels used in scholarly men’s quarters in 18th- and 19th-century Korea. They’re almost too beautiful to use.

The card and lanyards from Leslie, Rose & Sharon. The card has two of my favorite things on it!

Today was my last day volunteering in the Digital Programs Unit at Raynor and Memorial Libraries at Marquette University.

Sunday is my birthday, and I have already gotten the best possible present. It’s a new job, the happiest of happy endings and one I never imagined when I enrolled in Foundations of Library Science at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in January of 2008.

It’s so good that the writers got together for Bonus Writer’s Lunch, which usually only happens once a year.

Bonus Writer’s Lunch!

Monday is my first day as a public librarian. I’d love to tell you that I know exactly what I’ll be doing. But the truth is I only know that every day is going to be a fabulous adventure that combines the best parts of all my previous jobs – project coordinator, journalist, editor, bookseller, teacher, songleader and street performer – with a whole bunch of other new things.