Eight weeks tomorrow! Woohoo!
I''m a bit overwhelmed at the moment at what I've taken on, especially after the "spot of bother" we had ... :)
I have to come back home and report on my findings and set the wheels in motion to get a program happening and I hope it happens; I can definitely see it working elsewhere, I hope the locals are as receptive!
BUT I have contacted all the libraries I'm visiting and confirmed dates, the accomodations are all booked, the flights and trains are booked....some car hire is booked....
No actual dates being put here, but we're going to San Francisco and Seattle for ourselves, we're going to Centereach, NY, Oneida, NY, Brooklyn NY and Longview WA. Heading to toronto afterwards for "us" visit again...So many places to go !
Also have a visit to garden city NY to visit with an organisation....
It's all going to be so exciting and I can't wait to watch these family literacy programs in action and see the inspiration and the involvement.
I'm also trying to study - finish my diploma - and have work organised for while I'm away, I have a conference a week before we leave and I have time off for that too, so have five weeks off in all.
So I'm a bit tired but...it'll get wonderful soon !!!!

10 weeks today

...and counting. That's when we fly out.
So, more has been done since last blog. Accommodation booked everywhere now, yaay. I'm still rapt about Seattle Public Library, this is, like, the uber library!
http://www.spl.org/default.asp?pageID=about_history_history
http://www.spl.org/default.asp?pageID=branch_central_currentphotos&branchID=1
and take the slideshow

Anyway...we're also going to Astoria, where 'The Goonies' was filmed. checked out some accommodation right across the road from Data and Mikey's house but *sigh* they only take 2 night bookings on weekends, and we only have one night. we SO wanted to send the kids a photo from out the window looking down onto those houses! We have to buy a Babe Ruth from the milkbar...apparently. :)
Brooklyn Long Island and upstate New York get a mnetion as well, so we'll be busy, as it's all in a four week time frame.

Nearly countdown time!

The trip to the USA is coming along...things are starting to happen! Yaay. The tickets there and back have been booked and paid for, and one lot of accommodation and carhire are paid for as well. That means we may stay in Washington state forever. :)
We decided to make a slight change to our itinerary and cut down our time in San Francisco by a few days...we'll still see all we want to see, but (gasp!) I get to see the Seattle Public library! Awesome.
So after San Francisco it's Seattle then down to Longview in Washington state. That part's booked so far, now the rest of the trip!
Library staff in the USA have been so helpful, and so accommodating. I am stunned by their helpfulness; I think it's because if you have the true heart of wanting your work to help - not just yourself and your career - you know the good your work can do. Or am I just being pompous? :)
Some of the libraries I will visit have lots of literacy stuff happening, and I can't wait to see it in action.
Anyway I hope to do some more bookings this weekend and get more of the trip settled...it's set in wet cement at the moment!