Random Fun Things Around my Desk at the Library

As the library cataloguing technician, I get my own desk and, as someone who loves decorating, you can bet I went all out! Here are a few fun random things around my desk at the library that I work at!

Since my desk area is in the corner of the room, I dubbed it "Kaylie's Magical Corner" and set up a letter peg board that says "Welcome to Kaylie's Magical Corner." I try to make my area feel magical with colour, decorations, and knick-knacks.

I had double copies of certain books from the Mini Brands Books surprise capsules that I bought so I decided to bring them to work! I set them up on some of the mini shelves that came with the books and added one of the mini magnifying glasses that I also received from them. The addition of the miniature Trolls doll was to add some decoration to it.

I have started collecting holiday rubber ducks to use as decorations during the various holidays. I have quite a few holidays covered but still need rubber ducks for Thanksgiving and Halloween. I'd also like to get some rubber ducks for Pride Month!

I love my holiday rubber ducks so, when I saw giant rubber ducks, I just had to get one for my desk to leave out all year! I even made some laminated holiday bowties for him so he can match the various holidays!

My co-workers and I like to decorate our area for holidays so we have fake eyeballs and bones for Halloween. I thought it would be funny to store them in the drawers on some rolling tool bench stools that we have. Because what could be cooler than having random eyeballs and bones in a drawer?!

There was a closet in the library that had been locked for years because nobody had the key. At one point, the closet had to be forced open and there were a bunch of old programming materials and puppets inside. We found a weird chicken puppet holding a pickle on a stick and thought it was hilarious so he just hangs out with us now.

I once received a homemade "Dammit Doll" from a local seamstress called The Siller Sew'er. The basic idea of this doll is that if you're frustrated, you can throw the doll around to get your anger out. Sort of like hitting your pillow or going to a rage/smash room where you can smash things to get your anger out. So, I thought it would be fun to designate it as a communal dammit doll for the whole office!

We have a pothos plant in our office and we have been guiding it to grow across the top of a large doorframe using hooks. I decided to print out some Barrel of Monkeys images to decorate it. 

There is a crack in one of our walls nearby so I decided to make monsters to have coming out of the crack as a joke. They are inspired by the eye lichen from the film Labyrinth! One of my co-workers even made a sign warning not to feed them. 


Cheers,

Kaylie

Random Fun Gifts That I have Given to my Boyfriend

As a "just for fun" post, I thought I would share some of the random fun things that I have given to my boyfriend as gifts. Some were joke gifts since I love including a joke gift when giving any kind of presents!

We are starting off with Banada Duck because he's awesome! I gave him as a joke gift because I thought it was just too funny! He's yellow, which is my boyfriend's favourite colour, and he reminds me of the goose from Untitled Goose Game which my boyfriend and I played together. He is actually a garden statue but my boyfriend keeps him by the door of his apartment and I pat him on the head and greet him whenever I enter and exit.

While at an antiques market, I saw some moustache tea cups! These tea cups were created to protect the moustache of men from being ruined by tea. Since my boyfriend has facial hair, I just had to buy one for him!

This Fruity Pebbles candle smells just like cereal! It's from an amazing local business called Joyful Home which makes the most fantastic candles! When I smelled it, it reminded me of my boyfriend because he drinks a lot of milk. Since my thoughts instantly went to him, I just had to gift it to him. Plus it being yellow was just icing on the cake!

This dancing sunflower was a major joke gift. I thought it was too funny plus, again, it's yellow! It is very similar to the famous dancing cactus. It plays music, dances, and mimics voices.

Cheers,

Kaylie

Dewey Decimal Star Stickers DIY

When I was a kid, I took a babysitting course. At the end of the course, we had to do a quiz and the instructor then marked it and put reward stickers on it. One of the stickers was a custom sticker that said "Mrs. [last name] thinks you're a star!" (name omitted to maintain privacy) and it had a cute picture of a star on it. I really like stickers so I have never forgotten that sticker. Recently, as a library cataloguing technician, I was inspired to make a variation of that sticker with a library twist! 523.8 is the Dewey Decimal number for star so I made stickers that say "Cataloguer Kaylie thinks you're a 523.8!" and added a cute star picture. My coworkers thought they were adorable so I made the same stickers for them with their own job titles and names. Funny how one can be inspired by something as little as a sticker that was received years ago!

 

Cheers,

Kaylie

Happy Mail at Work

As a library cataloguing technician, I often have to send things to other branches through our inter-branch delivery system. It's usually replacement supplies or tags for certain items. I always send them in a clear ziplock bag with the branch's name written on it as well as a short note of what's inside (just in case there are staff who are not up to date and are wondering why I sent it to them). One day, I decided that this method was boring and wanted to make it a bit more fun. I wanted to send something that would make staff smile and would make me smile when I send it! I was inspired to start sending them happy mail. The basic idea is that you send something fun! I was also inspired by the blind date with a book product that people have been selling where the book is covered in a specially folded brown paper so that it has a pocket where the seller also includes fun extras like a tea bag, bookmark, sticker, etc. Since I am the CATaloguer, I decided to go with a cat theme and found some cute printable cat notepaper online for writing my notes. I also used fun cartoon images of cats with books to create my own stickers to stick on my notes. I still have my Dewey Decimal holiday stickers and Dewey Decimal star stickers as well. Lastly, I found some bookmarks and book quotes to print on cardstock and include as my little extra gift for the staff. Work notes and deliveries don't have to be boring and we all need a little cheer every once in a while!
 
Cheers,
Kaylie

Scrabble Tile Word Art DIY

My boyfriend and I are big fans of meaningful gifts. He has given me framed images that he created that are connected to our dating history, like a map showing the place where we first met and an image of the night sky of the day that we started dating, while I have written him a poem that I framed for him. Another gift that I gave him recently was a piece of Scrabble tile word art that I created in a frame. I glued old Scrabble tiles to watercolour paper, spelling out both of our first names and crossing them so they connected via the "i" like in a crossword puzzle. This can be done with any names as long as they have a letter in common. I then glued a heart gem to it as well to add a bit of colour and decor. More decorations could be added but I wanted to keep it simple. I then took the glass out of a frame, because it wouldn't fit the thickness of the tiles, and framed the piece. This is such a cute personalized decoration for couples, families, and friends! You can use names or even words that fit a specific theme and then decorate accordingly. 

Cheers,

Kaylie

My Past Toilet Paper Dresses in the Gutsy Runway

As the Sudbury Chapter of Crohn's and Colitis Canada, our team came up with an interesting fundraising idea in 2022: a toilet paper fashion show called the Gutsy Runway! Basically, designers make toilet paper dresses and fundraise. Then their dress is in a runway that people can buy tickets to attend. All of the money goes to Crohn's and Colitis Canada! This is such a cool fundraiser because Crohn's and colitis are diseases that can involve frequent washroom use so toilet paper fits the theme. Also, the runway is about being brave and getting up there in front of people to raise awareness and support for Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. I myself have designed a dress and modelled it all three years that we have held our runway. There has definitely been a lot of learning along the way! Having ulcerative colitis, designing and modelling my own dress was all about represting the Crohns and colitis community in every way that I could! See my past three dresses below along with the methods that I used to make them.

2022 - Ruffles:

I had no idea what I was doing for this first dress since I have no dress-making experience and toilet paper is difficult to work with. This dress was basically just one big experiment! I did a lot of papier maché work with the toilet paper and I wanted ruffles so I folded lot of individual pieces of toilet paper to make ruffles for the skirt part. Hot glue was definitely my best friend for this dress! The over the shoulder shawl-like piece was actually supposed to be worn as a traditional shawl but was too short and some girls backstage suggested that I just put it over my shoulder and it ended up being a hit! One problem that I encountered was the chest of the dress starting to tear backstage before I even modelled the dress.

See photos of all of the dresses here!

2023 - Medieval Inspired:

I decided to go with a different method of toilet paper dress making. The winner of the first runway showed me how she attached long sheets of toilet paper together to make a sort of fabric. She sewed hers with a sewing machine but I am only confident with my hand sewing methods so I just used my good old friend hot glue! I used the "fabric" making method to make two separate pieces, top and skirt, which looked like a full dress when combined. I made it in two pieces to lessen the weight of the skirt pulling on the top, hoping that this would prevent it from tearing. I wanted long bell sleeves inspired by Medieval dresses but decided to just have the sleeves flow behind me, sort of like a cape, instead. It still looked Medieval inspired and I made a sort of headband veil that was Medieval inspired as well. I wanted to make pom poms for this dress so I made some poofy ones and used them to decorate part of the dress. The most fun part of it was the accessory! I made two large poofy pompoms and attached them to each other using a large braid that I made from rope which was toilet paper twisted using a drill. This toilet paper rope would be the future inspiration for my third dress. People thought that my accessory of a big braid with pompoms on either end looked sort of like a mace which again fit in with the Medieval inspiration and which I thought was hilarious! This dress ended up tearing on the sides of the chest underneath the armpits but the tearing happened after the show while I was still wearing the dress and moving around a lot.

See photos of all of the dresses here!

2024 - 1920s Flapper Inspired:

This is my favourite dress so far! I love the 1920s so I wanted to create a dress inspired by this brilliant decade! After making some toilet paper rope the previous year, I decided to go all out with it and hand weave it in two panels which I then attached with woven sides. I did this using a makeshift loom that I put together from a long tote lid and pegged knitting looms duct taped to each end. It required a lot of rope to weave the entire thing and I used hot glue once again when needed. For my accessories, I made a toilet paper "feather" boa by making a really long braid from toilet paper rope and then glueing short individual pieces of the rope to it. I also made a hat by creating a sort of papier maché bowl using a large floppy hat as a mould and then decorated it. To complete my look, I wore a short bob style wig and some red lipstick. This particular dress held up really well and I am very proud of it!

See photos of all of the dresses here!

Cheers,

Kaylie

Creating Personal Lego Minifigures

My boyfriend LOVES Lego and his love of Lego has rubbed off onto me. The first Christmas present that he gave me (before we started dating) was the Once Upon A Brick Lego set. We met when we were both working as branch assistants at a library so the fact that this Lego set is a book made it even more special! For our 4th dating anniversary, I decided to use the Lego website's Pick a Brick section to purchase specific Lego minifgure pieces to create the two of us in Lego minifigure form! I even added extra little accessories that correspond with things we like. Mine has a teapot because I love tea and a book because our my love of reading and libraries. My boyfriend’s minifigure has a Lego newspaper to signify his love for Lego as well as a laptop because he’s a computer guy. I also included a sword for each of us because why not?

On the left-hand side of the Pick a Brick page, you will find some options to help narrow down your search. Select Minifigure Parts to look at all of the minifigure body part options and select Minifigure Accessories to see all of the options for accessories.

Here are some search terms to narrow down your search:

• For head: Head
• For hair: Wig
• For torso: Upper part
• For legs: Lower part
• For the plate for the minifigure to stand on: Plate 3x4 with 4 knobs
• For accessories: Use simple search terms like book, laptop, sword, plant, shovel, etc.

Cheers,

Kaylie

Dewey Decimal Holiday Stickers DIY

Since I'm a cataloguing technician, one year I decided to have fun with the Dewey decimal system and made a Christmas sign that said "Merry 394.2663!" A few years later, I turned it into a sticker and put it in the Christmas cards that I gave to my library co-workers. This year, I thought "Why not do all of the holidays that there are Dewey decimal numbers for?" and made a sign that could be changed based on the holiday. And then I made stickers. I simply used labels that were the size that I wanted, typed the Dewey decimal holiday greeting, and added a banner that matches the holiday. The Dewey decimal numbers for various holidays can be found below. These can be made from whatever labels you like and you can customize them with different images. These are such fun holiday stickers for library staff and patrons!

New Year: 394.2614

Valentine's Day: 394.2618

Easter: 394.2667

Thanksgiving: 394.2649

Halloween: 394.2646

Christmas: 394.2663

Cheers,

Kaylie

Dewey Decimal Holiday Sign DIY

You know you're a cataloguer when... You make an interchangeable holiday sign using Dewey decimal numbers. To create this sign, I chose a book-themed border and printed it off, leaving the center blank. I then made separate rectangles that included the Dewey decimal holiday greeting along with a corresponding image. Both of these steps can be customized to the images you would like to use. After the rectangles were printed, I laminated the bordered page as well as the holiday greeting rectangles which I trimmed afterwards. I took self-adhesive velcro circles, attaching 2 to the front center of the bordered page and 2 to the back of each rectangle. To make sure the velcro lined up with each rectangle, I placed the velcro circles on the bordered page first, with the adhesive of the rectangle velcro facing up, and pressed the rectangle onto the velcro. When I removed it, the velcro was stuck on it and perfectly lined up. You can find the Dewey decimal numbers for various holidays below.

New Year: 394.2614

Valentine's Day: 394.2618

Easter: 394.2667

Thanksgiving: 394.2649

Halloween: 394.2646

Christmas: 394.2663

Cheers,

Kaylie

Library Book Cart Names

 

Cat and Log

As a library cataloguing technician, I am part of a Technical Services team that uses a lot of book carts. So, we decided to name them! But we couldn’t just give them any old names! We needed puns! It all started with my two small cataloguing book carts which I named Cat and Log (because CATaLOGue, get it?) and then it grew from there. We have some colourful book carts that are named song titles based on their colour (example: Cherry Pie for the red cart) but I’m just showing the library pun book carts in this post.

The Great Cartsby

Fahrencart 451

The Cart of Venice

The Cartcher in the Rye

The Wonderful Wizard of Cart

For Whom the Cart Rolls

The Old Curiosity Cart

Cart of the Flies

Cheers,

Kaylie

Birth Decade Treat Basket DIY

Last year, my mom turned 60 years old. I wanted to give her a unique gift, especially since she just happened to be born in the 1960s. She loves candy so I decided to put together a basket of treats that first came out in her birth decade! For this project, I researched treats that came out in the 1960s because I didn't want to just restrict this project to candy. Did you know that Pop Tarts came out in the 1960s?! I chose treats based on what still existed and what I could get a hold of. After acquiring the treats that I was going to include, I printed off photos of the original wrappers or old advertisements for each specific treat and taped them onto the treat with the year it came out. This gift can be customized for anyone's birthday. Just do a search for treats that came out during their birth decade. CandyFavorites.com has a great retro candy timeline outlining the history of candy decade by decade from the 1840s to the 2020s.

Cheers,

Kaylie

My First Spell Jar

In recent years, I have become more interested in witchy stuff. I really identify with my Finnish side (a quarter of my family is Finnish) so I think that’s where this interest stems from. The Finns have a great connection to nature and it makes total sense when you find out that Finnish Paganism existed before other religions were introduced to Finland. I have looked through plenty of witchy books and am constantly figuring out what practices I connect to the most. A lot of witchcraft is going with your intuition and what feels right for you.

 

I have seen lots of spell jars and wanted to try making my own but was always nervous to do it for the first time. What if I messed up? I had to remind myself about witchcraft being about what feels right to ourselves. A witchy friend from work had her birthday in October and I wanted to give her a witchy themed gift. What better time to try making a spell jar for the first time? I specifically made a protection spell jar for her and it felt even more special making my first spell jar for a witchy friend.

 

I sat at my altar (unfinished because I’m still working on it) and cast a circle by visualizing a ball of light coming my heart and growing into a sphere around me. I then lit a white tea light and cleansed a small jar by placing it over top of the flame to put it out and let the smoke swirl inside. I then poured in some sea salt, added herbs and plants (I chose ones that are for protection so I used a bit of cedar bough, a piece of oak leaf, rosemary, and thyme all of which came from my family’s land), added a piece of quartz (also for protection and came from my family’s land), and wrote PROTECTION on a piece of paper which I rolled up and placed inside. I then put the cork on the jar and lit a long white candle which I used to pour melted wax on top to seal the jar. Then I closed the circle by visualizing the ball of light growing smaller and coming back to my heart.

 

Of course, this was only my first spell jar and I’m still learning but I definitely figured out some things that worked for me and some that didn’t work. I really learned to trust my intuition with this first spell jar.

Cheers,

Kaylie

Summer Freedom 2019 Playlist

Summer Solstice was on Friday. The warm weather is here. My family has opened up our pool for the season (although I still haven't gone swimming yet). Yes, Summer has finally come to Northern Ontario. That means that it is time to turn up the music and have fun while soaking in the beautiful sun before it disappears again for half the year. For me, Summer brings the feeling of freedom so I decided to base my Summer playlist this year on that wonderful feeling that anything is possible! Also, I like making my Summer playlists a bit longer so this one has 20 songs.

Check out the playlist on Spotify here: Summer Freedom 2019 Playlist

Cheers,

Kaylie

Sudbury Gutsy Walk 2019

On Sunday, I participated in the Gutsy Walk for Crohn's and Colitis. It's an annual fundraising walk that raises money for Crohn's and Colitis Canada, an organization here in Canada that funds Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis research, provides various programs for people living with the diseases, and raises awareness and educates people about the diseases. Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis are forms of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).Canada has one of the highest rates of IBD in the world and it is estimated that 1 in 140 Canadians has IBD. 

I am actually one of those Canadians living with IBD. I have ulcerative colitis for which I am on a biologic drug called Remicade that I receive through an IV infusion every eight weeks and it keeps my colitis under control. I had to go on this drug when my colitis flared up badly in 2016. We found out that the inflammation had spread throughout my colon and my body was not responding well enough to the usual IBD medications so I needed something stronger. It was really scary and, afterwards, I really wanted to get more involved in spreading awareness about IBD and help other people living with the diseases so I decided to start volunteering with my local chapter of Crohn's and Colitis Canada.

I started volunteering with the Sudbury chapter of Crohn's and Colitis Canada in September 2017 and this year's Gutsy Walk was my second time volunteering at the walk although it was my fourth time attending the walk. Last year I was in charge of the kids/activity area on walk day so I took on the same role this year. Last year I had a lot of anxiety since it was my first time volunteering at the walk but this year was so much better. I still had a bit of anxiety before the walk but once we got started setting up I was much better since I knew what to do from last year.

The kids/activity area had three tables underneath two canopy tents. There was a hired face painter who also made balloon animals, bags of candies with sticks in order to make a candy kabob resembling the gutsy guy logo of Crohn's and Colitis Canada, temporary tattoos of that same gutsy guy logo, "I want _____ to stop" stickers where you could fill in something IBD-related that you want stopped and could stick on a board that we had available, a binder full of educational brochures, as well as an area that required donations which included a plinko game. The face painting, tattoos, and candy were obviously very popular with the kids at the walk. 

Since I was in charge of the area, I helped set it up and decided where everything went and then helped out wherever I was needed in the area. I did, however, make it a goal of mine to get lots of people to fill out the stickers for the board since people were not as attracted to that activity last year. This year, I wanted the board to be filled with lots of stickers so I would ask anyone who came to the table if they wanted to fill out a sticker and the board, as you can see in the photo at the beginning of this post, was filled quite nicely.

By the end of the walk, I was just really happy. I had so much fun and I feel so much more confident volunteering at the walk now. It was so amazing to participate in something so important to me and get to talk to some people about IBD and show that they are not alone in having IBD or supporting someone who has IBD. I just wish that the brochures would have been more popular. I think encouraging people to look through the brochures will be my big goal next year and I look forward to it. I'm so excited for next year!

Cheers,

Kaylie

My Second Library Placement

If you do not already know, since September 2017, I have been a college student in a library and information technician program online through distance education. The end of the program involves two library placements. I previously blogged about my first library placement that I did at an academic library. I just finished my second library placement on Tuesday, which I did at a public library, and I am now finished my entire library and information technician program! I am so excited to be done my program and have realized that I definitely made the right decision of choosing this program. Library work is well suited to me. I have seen this through my enthusiasm in both my courses and my placements. I love it so much!

At my second library placement, I had both similar and different experiences than my first library placement but even the experiences that were similar were still a bit different. Here is what I did:

Health and Safety: I went through health and safety training that employees and volunteers must complete. This involved a tour of the library, a staff member explaining health and safety procedures, and online courses (videos, text, and quizzes) with certificates.

Cataloguing and Physical Processing: I catalogued CDs, DVDs, fiction books, puzzles, and board games. I did physical processing for books, CDs, DVDs, audiobooks, puzzles, and board games. I also had to check the catalogue for DVDs that were donated to see if any of the library branches had them, which ones had them, and how many had them.

Archive Digital Folders: I organized newspapers that were digitized from microfilm into folders by week since they had already been organized by month.

Interlibrary Loan: I learned about how the interlibrary loan system usually works since, at the time of my placement, interlibrary loans were suspended, and I got to experience how it was working at the time. I still got to work with returns, reserves, check ins, shipping, shelf checks, patron requests, processing, and stats despite the suspension which is a lot more than I thought I would get to do.

Children's Collection: I learned about ordering/purchasing books and DVDs for the children's collection through various companies and even got to actually order some, with help from the staff member in charge of the children's collection, of course.

Weeding: I weeded the teen fiction section and the adult graphic novel section using lists that were given to me by staff. The books were either on the list because they had been checked out a lot and may not be in great condition or they had not been checked out in a while. I removed the books from the shelves and then went through them with staff members to see if any were worth keeping and withdrew the rest that the library wanted to get rid of and learned the different fates of withdrawn books. They may be just thrown away or they could be donated to a school that wants them or sold through library book sales or a specific organization that helps libraries sell books.

Technology: I helped update children's apps on iPads by restoring the purchases for all of them.

Makerspace: I learned about the different tools and aspects of the makerspace and how the makerspace functions when it comes to using tools and setting up workshops.

This library placement was so much fun and the staff were amazing. I got to have experiences in so many different departments and see just how much work goes into running a public library. There are so many details and it is fascinating how the work is distributed among staff in a large library. I am so glad that I had this experience and now feel even more confident with library work.

Cheers,

Kaylie

Feeling Overwhelmed

I have spoken about my anxiety in previous blog posts so it should be no surprise when I say that I get overwhelmed quite easily sometimes. Obviously it is related to my anxiety. New situations make me anxious. Meeting new people or socializing with groups of people make me anxious. Changes make me anxious. And when I am anxious, I get overwhelmed. There is so much going on and then, on top of that, I have to deal with everything that my anxiety brings to the table. I get overwhelmed by too much happening at once or feeling like I am being rushed. There are ways to deal with it though and here are some things that I have learned for dealing with anxiety and being overwhelmed.

Stop for a moment and take a breath: You have probably already heard about how much breathing can help calm you down but it is definitely something that I myself forget to do in situations where I am overwhelmed and my anxiety is acting up. I used to get a lot of anxiety when getting needles (I still get some anxiety but having to get IV infusions every 8 weeks has gotten me more used to needles) and had to ask the nurses to remind me to breathe because my breathing would act up and I would start sweating or even shaking in some instances. When I get anxiety, my breathing often goes funny and I will sometimes hyperventilate. Taking a moment to just stop, leave everything to the side, and take a few deep breaths can really help clear your head and set you up to tackle whatever situation you are in. When you are feeling overwhelmed, it feels like things just keep piling up so pausing and taking a breath can stop that feeling of things piling up.

Let people know what you are going through: In certain situations when you are with people and you are becoming overwhelmed or you think that your anxiety is going to act up or it is acting up, telling the people you're with about it can really help. When I started volunteering with my local chapter of Crohn's and Colitis Canada, I told the president of the chapter about my anxiety. When I joined a local community band, I ended up letting the conductor know about my anxiety after the first few band rehearsals since my anxiety had gotten quite bad during them. In both cases, it really helped me, even if it did not necessarily help calm my anxiety. It just helped to know that they knew what I was going through instead of thinking that they must be judging me for acting strange or think that something else is wrong with me. When I told them, they were also very understanding so I knew that if my anxiety acted up again they would be understanding then too. 

Ask questions to clear things up or ensure that you are on the right track: I know that, for me, not knowing can cause a lot of anxiety and make me feel overwhelmed because I start worrying about what is to come, whether I am doing something right, etc. I therefore ask lots of questions and like knowing what to expect. It helps lessen the anxiety and makes me feel less overwhelmed because there is a plan laid out. Even if there are a lot of steps to the plan or it is only a very basic plan, I at least have something to work with and I can use it to figure things out one step at a time.

Take breaks to recharge: Taking a break and getting away from people or a situation for a little while can really help clear your head and help you recharge so that you will be ready when you return. As an anxious introvert, I need my alone time. Even if it is just a few moments alone in a washroom. People and certain situations can feel suffocating and I just need to go somewhere where I can finally breathe.

Take things one day at a time or even one moment at a time: Life can be so overwhelming and we just have to remember to take things one step at a time. Even if we feel like we need to get everything done now and feel like we are in a rush, we need to remember that that is not how things work. Everything takes time so we need to slow down and take the time needed. Sometimes we might feel like we just want to get something over with and can't wait for it to be done because it is causing us a lot of anxiety but we need to take things one moment at a time and we might actually end up enjoying whatever it was that was causing us so much anxiety in the first place. When it came to my library placements, I had a lot of anxiety. Before even starting the placements, I was already telling myself that it was only 15 days per placement and that I just had to get through it then it would all be over and I wouldn't have to worry about it anymore. In the end, I actually ended up really enjoying my placements and learning a lot despite my anxiety and was actually sad for my first placement to be over and am sad that tomorrow is the last day of my second placement.

I hope maybe these things help you as much as they help me.

Cheers,
Kaylie

Kaylie: Name Confusion

This blog post is going to be a bit different than my usual blog posts. It is still going to have my thoughts and feelings about a certain topic and may end with me coming to some kind of realization or lesson but it is mostly just going to be me ranting about confusions that other people have when it comes to my first name. So, you might want to grab a cup of tea and find a cozy place to sit for this blog post because it is going to be a doozy!

First of all, let's actually start with my first name: Kaylie. Pronounced K-AY-L-EE. The meaning of the name is unclear according to the results from several websites. The name Kaylie is a modern American creation and does not traditionally come from another language but, if we break it down and find the meanings of the names in it, then we can give it meaning. Most people focus on the Kay part of the name. According to the internet, the name has Kay in it which comes from Katherine which is from the Greek word katharos meaning "pure." Some websites say that the name might also come from the Celtic word caol meaning "slender." These are the most common name meanings that people usually present for Kaylie. Going even further, the "lee" part of the name (spelled L-I-E for me) comes from the Old English word leah meaning "woodland, clearing." Sometimes you will see statements that Kaylie is a form of Kayla which comes from the Hebrew name Kelila meaning "crown of laurel."Another interesting fact to add would be that a Celtic party is called a ceilidh and is pronounced the same way as Kaylie.

My mom ended up choosing to name me Kaylie because her mother's first and middle names were Kathaleen Lillian (although everyone called her Lillian) and Kaylie has parts of both names in it. K-A from Kathaleen and L-I from Lillian. I love this! I love having a special little reason for my name and having a connection to one of my ancestors while also having my own name rather than the exact same name as them.

Now we get into the confusions with my name. People make mistakes with the spelling of my name if they don't know how mine is specifically spelled, or if they forget, or if they just aren't paying attention. I remember getting valentine cards in elementary school that, even though my fellow students had known me for a while, would still have wrong spellings of my name.

Here are just a few ways that my name can be spelled: Kaylie, Kaylee, Kailee, Kaley, Kayley, Kailey, Kayleigh. There are also so many other spellings. It can be spelled in all sorts of different ways as long as you have the "k," "ay," "l," and "ee" sounds in it. It can also start with a "c." So, imagine all of the possible spellings after the first letter and then think of all of them starting with a "k" or a "c." That's a lot of different spellings!

Since there are other names that are kind of similar, I end up getting called those names sometimes, especially Kylie since it is so close to my name. So many people have mistakenly called me Kylie that, when introducing myself, I now tell people that if they can't remember my name, they can just call me Kay. That is usually a lot easier for them to remember since it also sounds just like the first letter of my name. People have also told me that it will help them remember that I am Kaylie and not Kylie.

As annoying as it is for people to spell my name wrong or call me by the wrong name, it kind of makes my name special. My name is not as common as other names and it has so many different spellings. It is unique. Also, maybe I should be grateful for the fact that people at least remember me, even if they get my name wrong. And who am I to judge when I myself remember faces better than names?

Cheers,
Kaylie

Chronic Diseases: Worries and Dreams

I have two chronic diseases, both of them autoimmune diseases, which I have previously spoken about here on my blog: ulcerative colitis and psoriasis. I try to stay positive, especially since I am a young person and still have my whole life ahead of me, but there are still worries. Even though my treatments for both diseases are going well and keeping them under control, the diseases are still there in my body since cures for them do not exist yet and this of course causes concerns. There are both good sides and bad sides to these diseases and I have been thinking about them a lot recently and thought that I would share them here. I have split them up into the categories of "worries" and "dreams" since the bad parts that I have been thinking of lately are more like worries due to the fact that my diseases are under control right now and I have my personal dreams of what I can do as a person with these diseases.

Worries:
Having two autoimmune diseases makes me worry about what comes next. I worry about my future health. I worry about my future body. What will my body be like as I grow older and eventually reach an old age when people normally start getting a lot of health problems if I already have chronic diseases as a young person? What will my diseases that I already have be like? What other issues will these diseases possibly cause in the future? I already got a second autoimmune disease, possibly from already having one. What other autoimmune diseases might I get? Also, what about my mental health? My diseases that I already have have affected my anxiety a lot. How will they further affect my anxiety and how else might they affect other aspects of my mental health? Then, of course, there is the fact that I am stressing out about all of this and stress can make my health worse and that causes me to stress out about the fact that I am stressing out too much. I just have to take things one step at a time and not worry about what has not happened yet.

Dreams:
I was not raised with religion and do not really follow a sole religion, although I do consider myself to be spiritual, but I believe that things happen for a reason, not necessarily caused by a higher being,  and so I must have these diseases for a reason. That sounds mean since awful things that people do not deserve happen to them and it sounds terrible to say that those things happened for  reason but it is one way that I personally cope with having chronic diseases. Maybe I have them so that they can teach me something. These diseases have definitely made me more accepting of others who have health issues. I have also learned a lot more about health and wellness, medical issues, medications, the health system, etc. because of these diseases. They have also made me rethink my life, focusing on my health a lot more and turning me into a more positive person. I am more aware of my body now and try to pay more attention to my mental health. Maybe I have them so that I can help others with diseases, educate people about chronic diseases or raise awareness about them, or so that I can inspire other people by showing them that you can have a great life even if you have chronic diseases. Maybe I was needed in order to do one of these things and the best way for me to accomplish this was by having these diseases. Having these diseases has made me stronger and they have pushed me even more when it comes to wanting to achieve my hopes and dreams. When you feel like you have hit a low point, you have to just think that now there is nowhere to go but up. Even though I continue to go through health issues and have not necessarily hit the bottom, I keep the "nowhere to go but up" mentality and use all of the bad stuff that has happened as fuel for accomplishing my goals. As someone with Finnish ancestry, I also keep sisu in mind. Sisu is a Finnish word that us Finns live by and it is basically the act of continuing on even when you feel like you have come to the end. My dreams are of using these diseases to help me and other people rather than bring me down.

It is unfortunate that I have these diseases, especially as a young person, but they are a part of me rather than being who I am. I am not the diseases. I am me. I just have these diseases and have to deal with them and everything that they bring with them. They are a part of my life and they can be a part of why I accomplish my dreams. I just have to deal with them right and let them take me on the journey that they have been "given" to me for.

Cheers,
Kaylie