Tag: Linda Cafiero

Posted in retirement

Debbie’s Retirement Life, Week 3: Day 22, 1/13/23

Posted on by Debbie

During my third week of retirement, I continued decluttering and taking virtual exercise classes, began writing my next Buttercup Bend cozy mystery, had my nails done, went out with a friend to a Luminosity Light Festival, attended a real estate show, had my cats’ nails trimmed, and participated in a library book club discussion.

The virtual library exercise classes I’m taking are working out well. I purchased light, 1 pound weights and a small exercise ball that’s used in a few classes. I’m also getting an exercise mat. My cats were curious about these new items. I’d also gotten a new laundry hamper, and Harry enjoyed trying it out.

I was excited to start my third Buttercup Bend mystery, The Case of the Llama Raising Librarian. Along with Cathy Carter and the returning characters, it features a retired librarian. I wonder where I got that idea.

Last Friday, I had my nails done at Joy Nails, my local nail salon. I chose a glittery silver color that I thought would be nice for winter.

That night, I attended the Luminosity Festival at Eisenhower Park with my friend, Jenny. She took a cute photo of me by the Cheshire Cat in the Alice in Wonderland section of the festival.

On Saturday, I went to the Ideal Living Resort & Retirement Expo at the Huntington Hilton that featured 55+ communities in other states. It was somewhat disappointing because South Carolina and Virginia weren’t present as advertised, and, although representatives from North Carolina were there, they were mostly from Wilmington and the Coast.

On Sunday, the groomer came to give my cats well-needed mani pedis. Hermione suprised me by not even crying when she usually puts up a big fight. Harry, however, wasn’t his docile self. He cried the whole time.

On Wednesday, I went to my library for a book club discussion about The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray. I enjoyed the group and was also able to share my latest books and bookmarks with the members. I’m hoping they will choose one of my books for a future discussion. They’d discussed Sea Scope in the past and seemed interested in Time’s Relative that won the Cat Writers’ Association’s Muse Medallion award this year.

Later today, I’ll be viewing a virtual lecture on one of my past favorite music groups, the Bee Gees. This weekend or on Monday, I’m planning to go to lunch with two friends from church and exchange late Christmas presents. Next week, I’m also viewing a decluttering webinar that may be helpful to me as I continue that household project. I’m also seeing the chiropractor about my knee and possibly getting another cortisone injection. I’ve found that my knees aren’t bothering me as much during the exercises I’ve been doing, but I modify them if they do.

Thanks for reading about my retirement adventures. Next week, I might give you a sneak peek at the first chapter of the rough draft of my new book.

Posted in retirement

Debbie’s Retirement Life, Week 2: Day 15, 1/6/23

Posted on by Debbie

During my second week of retirement, I did some decluttering, started some virtual exercise classes, took an online writing webinar, and published my January newsletter.

I sent my January newsletter to subscribers the day before New Year’s Eve. It featured a Llama naming contest, survey contest, a list of my favorite 2022 books, and a few other features. Although only subscribers can enter the contests, you can read the January newsletter here: https://mailchi.mp/e62b71e1c70d/january-news-llama-naming-contest-new-years-survey-and-more

New Year’s Eve was quiet. We toasted 2023 with sparkling cider and ate from a cheese and sausage tray. Even my cat, Hermione, got in the holiday mood.

I enjoyed the virtual exercise classes I took this week. I started with Stay Active, a Nassau Library System health share program on Wednesday, January 4. The class was a mix of aerobics and strength training. The instructor used weights in the second part of the class but said we didn’t have to use them and would still get some benefits. Since I’m not used to working with weights, I chose not to use them. The class wasn’t hard to follow, and I liked the oldies music. That night, I took a Body Sculpting class given by Seaford Library. The instructor, Kristen, was excellent. When she did floor work, I typed into the chat that I have difficulty getting on the floor because of my knees, and she showed me how to moderate those exercises sitting or standing by a chair. She also provided her email if any of the participants had questions for her. I thought that was very nice and look forward to the next class. Her music was also great.

On Thursday, the only virtual exercise class I took was Simply Stronger, given by my library. The instructor, Mindy Vasta, welcomed me and introduced me to the class as the retired librarian who used to organize the exercise programs. It was great to attend the class after having monitored it in the past. I was also happy to hear that a participant has been reading my books. Mindy does a very energetic class with good tunes and lots of strength training. She also used weights in the second half but was careful to instruct people in the proper safety protocols and said I could use weights when I felt I was ready and to start with light ones. Tomorrow, I’ll be taking Tai Chi with Linda Cafiero. I’ve known Linda a long time and look forward to her relaxing class.

Although I haven’t yet started writing the third book of my series as I’d planned, I viewed a Writers’ Digest University publishing webinar given by Jane Friedman that had been a Christmas gift from my husband. The webinar was informative, and I can view the replay and answers to all the questions typed in the chat.

Besides putting away all the Christmas decorations after New Year’s, I’ve also been organizing and decluttering each day. Again, I’m sorry that I don’t have a “before” shot of the coat rack, but it was really a mess before I straightened it out. I even found my husband’s lost hat.

I also decluttered my bedroom wardrobe, removing clothes that are out of season and straightening out the shelves. I also hang my cats’ long toys in there.

In between exercising, cleaning, and housework, I’ve been reading two books on my Kindle app: Cowboys and Chaos, the 3rd book of Elizabeth Pantley’s Magical Mystery Book Club cozy mystery series. Elizabeth is one of my favorite authors, and I featured one of the other books in this series as a 2022 favorite in my January newsletter. In The Magical Mystery Book Club stories members of a book club travel into the cozy mystery books they read. In Cowboys and Chaos, that’s the Wild West! To return to the present, they need to solve the mystery in the book, which is the disappearance of a saloon girl.

I’m also reading The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz. I’m reviewing this unpublished book through NetGalley. It can be preordered now and will be published on February 21. So far, I’m enjoying it. It’s a mix of horror and psychological fiction about a woman whose been invited by her favorite dark fiction author to attend a writing retreat at her reclusive, and rumored to be haunted, estate along with four other authors, one of whom used to be her best friend until an angry break up.

On Wednesday, I learned that my brother’s daughter gave birth to twin sons. Welcome, Jackson and Maxwell! Congratulations to my niece, her husband, and my brother and sister-in-law on their double blessings.

I didn’t go out much this week except for a walk on Wednesday when the temperatures reached over 60 degrees. I’m planning to have my nails done today and attend a light show with my friend this evening (more on that next week with photos, I promise). Thanks for reading about my retirement adventures.

Posted in libraries

National Library Week and Why I’m Proud to be a Librarian

Posted on by Debbie


This past weekend, I was asked by the Public Information Director at our library if I’d like to participate in a social media campaign for #NationalLibraryWeek. This campaign involved taking a photo holding a specific word. Each staff member who volunteered received a different word and these words and photos were assembled to create a collage. I thought this was a great idea, and I submitted a photo of me holding the word “for” in front of my black cat, Harry. Two other members featured pets in their photos and two featured one of their kids.


After seeing this wonderful, creative tribute to the faces behind our library, I wanted to get involved in another way to promote National Library Week. I read an email by NYLA (New York Library Association) that offered some suggestions. One of them was for librarians to create and post a video on social media about why they became a librarian. It took some thinking and several attempts before I recorded something suitable with my iPhone. Since I had to keep it short, a maximum of one minute, I couldn’t say all the things I wanted to, so I figured I’d write a blog post that would share the video and also my additional feelings about being a librarian and how proud I am of how my library and others across the country are dealing with the Coronavirus pandemic and finding alternate ways to serve patrons.

My library already offered many online services, but if you check the website, you’ll see that we have ramped these up. As a response to the COVID-19 pandemic that caused us to temporarily close our physical doors to the public, we have opened virtual ones by adding links to information about Coronavirus and our free digital resources that include research databases, downloadable ebooks and audiobooks through Overdrive; downloadable magazines through RB Digital; downloadable movies through Kanopy; online classes through Gale Courses, and more. We have also made it simple for patrons to obtain digital library cards, so they can use our online services. Another new addition is a chat line manned Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. by a reference librarian. As a notary public, I will also soon be offering e-notarizations. Further details will be posted on our website.

Checking our Facebook page, you will find listings of many of our regular programs that are now being offered remotely through Zoom and taught by some of the regular instructors. This page also lists other online resources and articles as well as staff picks book reviews, all of which are available free through Overdrive.

Since I work full-time at the library and am also a Hicksville patron, I’ve been happy to contribute to as well as take advantage of these online offerings that I normally couldn’t during my regular work hours. For instance, I recently attended Fran Cohen’s wonderful book discussion on Where the Crawdads Sing. It was a nice coincidence that I had read this book as an ebook I’d downloaded from Overdrive during my time home and submitted a staff pick for it. I also hope to attend Linda Cafiero’s Virtual Meditation program on Friday, May 1.

I know that other libraries across the country are doing many of the same things as mine, and it makes me even more proud of being a librarian. When I graduated from the Palmer School of Library and Information Science in 1989, the Internet was in its infancy. There were no smart phones or programs such as Zoom or Skype where people could see one another when they connected. Library Indexes were huge volumes that took up precious space. We’ve come a long way and even though we are all suffering during this pandemic, we are blessed with the technology that affords us the ability to keep in touch with one another and with the world. We applaud the frontline health workers who are dealing with this crisis by risking their lives, but librarians are on a front line of a different kind by their responsibility to provide information and resources to help people cope with the challenges that the Coronavirus has posed – the feelings of isolation, boredom, and fear.

We hope to be serving patrons in person again soon when the country opens up and things are safe. For now, we will use the new tools of our profession to keep our virtual doors open.