Get back in the saddle... Two months of transition

It's been two months since I last posted. Two months, I'm sorry. Unfortunately this isn't the first time I've gone on a long blogging sabbatical, but this my time away is directly related to moving, a new house, and a new job. If there is anyone surprised to see me back... thank you. I'm glad to be back.

Rather go into all the details of what has kept me away - here are a few of the highlights:

Snagged a Wii the week of Wii Fit's release. While my sons were excited they were disappointed that I didn't get Mario Kart Wii. I did pick up one of the last copies in Dubuque, IA of Wii Fit on it's launch day. After checking 4 stores, the 5th had 3 copies left by 6:00 pm. My wife and I were excited to try it. I was not as excited to find out my BMI put me just above the "normal" line into the "overweight" range. But that whole BMI issue has already been discussed. It's "Brain Age" for your body. It's been two months now and I'm still playing. Granted not playing as frequently as I should but I'm playing 3 to 4 times a week. I'm coming up on my 2 month goal and I'm not going to make it. But I still want to keep playing, both alone and with my kids.

The end of May was my final days in Dubuque. I said my final goodbyes to the University of Dubuque and what a goodbye! The kindness of the staff and the support they've given over the years was amazing. I will be forever grateful. And to top it all off they held a going away party filled with 80's music and Wii Sports. I couldn't ask for anything more. Thank you.

Saying goodbye to Dubuque and the University of Dubuque meant moving to De Pere, WI and saying hello to St. Norbert College. The first two weeks of June (before starting library work) were filled with work. Moving into a new house, cleaning, painting, cleaning, building, cleaning some more, and rebuilding made starting "work" feel like a break from all the house projects. After working on our house from 7:30 to at least 10:00 everyday, a regular workday sounds like a break.

The blank slate of my office parallels the blank slate of my new position. There is a lot of work that needs to be done to build an information literacy program here, but there is a lot of work that can be done. Over the past month, I've had chances to meet with a variety of faculty, staff, and students around campus. There is a lot of interest in my position and people open to change and new ideas.

I met with the Associate Academic Dean and chair of the general education committee. He is an exciting person, filled with passion and I look forward to working with him. We met to talk about the college's work to rewrite their general education curriculum, specifically about including information literacy into the curriculum. While this will be a process that takes time, I am excited about the possibility to help shape (or at least strongly advocate) for information literacy across the curriculum. The library has the support of the Associate Academic Dean and he wants to make sure we are not only at the table, but part of the curriculum.

I'm excited about all the potential here and look forward to sharing the growth that we accomplish. Since starting the job at St. Norbert, the house projects have continued. House projects are the major contributor to my lack of blogging. New garage, windows, and now updating the kitchen. There is a never ending stream of projects. By the time I've stopped working on projects each night finding the mental stimulation to blog has been a real challenge. But enough of the excuses, I'm back on a regular basis now.

So after all the transitions of past months, I'll be back and blogging again on a more regular basis. I've written a number of posts over the past weeks and attended LOEX of the West and ALA's Annual Conference so there are a number of posts that I will be putting the finishing touches on my comments and applications over the next weeks.

Thank you for sticking with me. The new job will bring new applications of gaming and information literacy to continue to discuss and share.