We ain't got no room for boring

For boring we ain't got no room.

Told you I'd be back.

So, this weekend was Motorcar-ing with the Boyfriend in Iowa: Take Two.

I don't know what my boyfriend's fascination is with Muppets and Motorcar-ing but apparently it's a thing.

Remember last year when we went and he kept singing Mahna Mahna?

Like literally, we're riding and we've got headphones on and all the sudden "mahna mahna...doo doo, doo doo doo..."

So this year it was "We ain't got no room for boring, for boring we ain't got no room."

Over and over.

Which, if you watch any TV whatsoever, you have probably seen at least twice in the past month.

If not, watch this.



Congratulations, you are now cultured.

There are actually multiple, but that's the most recent.

It's catchy. So much so that it was repeated...over and over...all over Iowa.

But it's true. We ain't got no room for boring.

And it's ironic because after I showed the Old New Guy a picture of what we'd be riding on his exact words were, "well, you'll never be bored with him."

And I don't think I ever will.

That said, this weekend was awesome. We always have fun when we go anywhere together, but he gets especially excited if it has anything to do with riding rails - whether it be motorcars or roller coasters.

It was definitely worth the drive, though our first run didn't go as planned. About quarter down the track the battery died and we had to get towed 'til it was replaced. Luckily it was an easy fix and we were back on by the afternoon.

It was nice cause it was a shorter ride so we could jump back in. If it was a day trip we would have been screwed.

I was grateful cause Donny came with so I wasn't the only woman there. She's always fun to jam with and it's so funny because men think that women talk a lot but apparently they've never met railroad men - who talk far more than anyone else on the planet. While us two women were just ready to ride.

And of course the boyfriend is the young gun that everyone has to tease and all that. Yeah, I think the average age for riders was probably mid-60's. So that means I get teased. I got called the "mrs" a few times and just smiled.

Another conversation we've been having a lot lately. Which is his fault cause he brought up ring shopping.

Anyway, it was a lot of fun. Here are a few of my favorite moments and some pictures to go along with.

-Walmart, the other hotel in town
::Let's just say a certain rider decided that he and his girlfriend didn't need a hotel room to stay in the first night cause Walmart parking lots are free and comfortable. Grateful that man wasn't my boyfriend. But I guess it would be sort of an adventure. That's how his girlfriend took it....so understanding.

-Big Rocks
::What is it with Iowans and the big rocks in their front yards? And when I say big I mean big. Like look at this.

And it wasn't just the one house. They were everywhere.

Any ideas? I'm wondering if they're actually decorative or if it's more like a giant rock monster died in their front lawn and they were too lazy to move them, though it's been added that they're also a deterrent to zombies so perhaps that's part of it.

-Breakdown
::While the breakdown itself was not enjoyable, the conversation that followed was. He taught me all about motorcar engines and how they work. I feel highly educated and could maybe repeat like a third of it...cause it was all technical. But I'll look smart when I do it... if you know nothing about engines. At all.

-Where are the face trees? 
::Yes, that is the technical term. I tried to take different pictures than last year but it's hard cause it's the same track. I did, however, have to take more pictures of the face trees cause they are super cool.




-Crash Boom
::So the day was awesome and after everything was loaded into the backs of trailers and trucks everyone was just kind of standing around and talking when all the sudden, *squeal* *boom* *thunk, thunk* Some idiot driver hit a pole right next to the station. We're thinking drinking was involved. They tried to drive away but couldn't so they just sat there for a while before the cops showed up (whom we called btw). We drove by the next day to see the marks and there was a big dent in the pole and tire tracks all over the grass.

Smooth.

So, we went out with a bang.

Here are more fun pics:



the line up.



picture of a picture of a picture of a picture...



around the curve.



bridge 1.



bridge 2.



no idea what that means. any translators in the house?

If you want to see more pictures from the route see last year's post here. Or check Facebook.

And that was Iowa. After we came back we did even more train stuff when we toured the historic Amtrak train at the Haymarket. Then got some lunch and he crashed on my couch for a few hours before he had to head into work.

I went in today and got grilled. They're jealous.

Plus I got Fun Dip. So I'm at the desk and Superwoman is like, the AD wants to see you. So I go upstairs dragging my feet, thinking I'm gonna get yelled at and she hands me a box of Fun Dip and says "I hear you like these." "Yep." "Okay. That's all."

Thanks.

It reminded me of the home branch when Space Cadet came up to me all straight-faced and was like "I have a question for you."
"Okay."
"Do you like 7-up?"
I was all freaked I did something wrong. "You looked all serious!"
"I am serious, I gotta get rid of this 7-up!"

Also, remember how I was writing two different program proposals for work? I finally said "screw it" and combined them. Perhaps it'll actually get approved if I put forth all my effort on one project instead of worrying about dividing it up into two.

But baby steps. Gotta polish the proposal first. Then comes the approval process.

Alright, on to the music.

Tonight's rec is pretty recent.

Me and My Broken Heart - Rixton


Another British invasion. I think they're kind of One Direction wanna-bees, but it's a good song.

However, the first time I listened to it it drove me nuts cause it sounded exactly like something else. And it has for weeks so I finally gave up and googled it and came across these two.

What do you think?

Lonely No More - Rob Thomas



Unfaithful - Rihanna


Feels a bit like a mix of both.

Ah, apparently Rob Thomas helped write it.

Well that explains it. But not the Rihanna part.

Alright, I'm out.

Will hopefully be back at some point this week.

Let's go places.

old, but i'm not that old. young, but i'm not that bold.

Aw, Shamy.

I love Big Bang Theory.

And Amy Farrah Fowler.

She makes me laugh.

She's still in the Penny is weird phase. I'm trying to figure out what changes her mind into labeling Penny as her "bestie".

Can't remember, been a while since I've watched. I haven't seen anything from this season at all. Is Wolowitz still up in space?

I should really look into that.

Today was crazy.

9-1 with volunteers at the library. We cleaned all the computers and dusted first floor and half of second.

After which I helped out at the desk, and headed out to G-Town for the camp meeting.

This year's theme is "Back to the Scripture" - a play on Back to the Future.

We do a lot of "play on" themes. There was Fear Can Never Factor In, Mission Possible, Extreme Makeover: God's Edition, Survivor In Christ, and last year's Be Transformed. Plus various others.

Stoked for this year.

Gonna have some fun skits to go with the theme.

Though I'll be sticking with the HeeHaw stuff for the older ones.

Gonna have to dig up some more verses.

So nice doing those in the air conditioning.

Definitely makes a difference, plus this year they're giving us a flat rate so we're saving like 1500 bucks.

Double bonus.

And I got the software for the website so gonna have to brush up on my HTML.

I've been put in charge cause I'm the only one of us who knows HTML.

Should be interesting.

Have a feeling I'm gonna go flailing to Boss's Boss's Boss's Assistant, aka my ex-professor who taught it to me last semester.

Aw man, it's storming again.

Carter is not pleased.

Don't think he's a fan of thunderstorms.

Not that I blame him.

It's been super stormy here in Nebraska.

Granted not as severe as other parts of the US, but like every other day there's some sort of weather warning.

Today was up in the 60's which is probably why it's storming out.

Where was I?

Oh yeah, camp.

So yes, went over notes from last year, updated the application forms, added some promotional stuff on Facebook, am excited to do the website, but a bit nervous.

I'm sure I'll ramble more about that later.

We'll meet up again in May to send out forms.

There was a good number of teen helpers there last year, and we actually divided them up into two groups - well, the ones we didn't stick in cabins - but the rest did games one day and then kitchen the next so that they both got to work in the air conditioning at some point.

And we're sticking with that cause it seemed to go over well.

Gonna be short on lifeguards this year, should be interesting. I'm hoping that Megz can make it at least one day. If not we're gonna be royally screwed.

Trying to brainstorm ideas for time fillers if we can't take them tubing.

They love it but we can't go if the water is too high or too low.

We used to do counselor hunts instead, where basically the counselors would hide and their campers would have to find them.

I remember once our counselors wore camo and hid up in the trees.

Like up up in the trees. Took us forever to find them.

Someone once buried themselves in sand.

That couldn't have been comfortable.

Though my favorite was when a certain someone hid on top of the old cafeteria and then fell through the roof.

Don't look at me like that, it wasn't me.

Still funny though.


The new building is too high to climb on.

Sad day.


One year we had them do extra crafts but that was expensive.

Maybe a scavenger hunt would be good, but then we'd have to come up with one involved enough that it would take up a whole afternoon.

It takes like 4 hours for all the tubing festivities cause we leave at 1 and then usually don't get back until like 4 and cleaned up by 5. And then it's time for the younger kids to eat already.

So there's a lot of time to cover.

Ideas?

Anyway, I love our core group and the Music Mentor was able to make it, along with Scuba Steve, Blackstone and Obi-Wan. We had our usual icecream and joked around a bit.

After the meeting I headed out to the farm to jam with the parentals.

Who then ditched me for supper - joking, I left anyway.

But it's going to be their 48th anniversary so they're celebrating.

Didn't realize it had been that long.

Didn't remember my sister was that old.

Don't tell her that, I'd get smacked.

No, she's not old. Cause that would mean 17 years from now I'll be old and that ain't happening.

Actually I feel old now. Especially today after working with all those college kids. But I had Superwoman there to help me wrangle them.

I'm zonked.

The boyfriend is stuck in Sacramento. The train that's supposed to be there like now is delayed cause it derailed. No idea when they'll get out of there. Bummed for him cause they made big plans for tomorrow in Seattle. Hoping it doesn't take too long.

Alright, gonna watch some more Big Bang and crash at some point soon.

Back to work tomorrow.

Song of the Day:

Counting Stars - OneRepublic

love it.

we're not broken just bent, and we can learn to love again.

I hate those stupid rambling kid commercials about the more and faster is better.

I have no idea what product they're for but I hate it already.

Ugh.

Side note, sorry, on in the background.

Hi!

So today was good. Very busy. Had 3/4 of the afternoon off desk and I still feel like I'm behind on Summer Reading stuff.

Finally got our dates nailed down for our Teen Summer Reading Events.

This year my teens are going with:
Jar Decorating - basically you put tape and stickers on a jar and then you paint the whole thing and peel the tape/stickers off to reveal the design to go with the "Beneath the Surface" theme and then also we're making paper lanterns with the jars so we have super thin paper that you draw on and then tape it around the jar, put a light in the jar and it makes a sweet nightlight.
Homemade Book Board Games - so the teens bring their favorite book to the library and we'll help them make a board game about it. So like with the Hunger Games they could do a Monopoly setup with the Capitol as Boardwalk. I did this in college with Pride and Prejudice - "Marry Mr. Collins, lose next turn" "Punch Miss Bingley in the face, move ahead three spaces" etc. - But we'll get them set up with templates for boards and then teach them how to make game pieces and all that.
Library Golf - this is the big one and it's the first event because that's the best time of year for my TAB kids to be able to help out. So we'll be starting off with a bang. As for logistics we will start on 4th floor with a couple of holes up there, ride the elevator down to 2nd (passed admin), around the nonfiction and music sections, down the back stairs and then through adult fiction and youth services.

I'm hoping the golf is especially popular just because of all the work that will go into it by the teens. Designing the holes and all that. I've been getting tips from a friend of Infoman's - things like using old mousepads to tee off of or using real golf balls instead of pingpong balls because they're easier to aim, etc.

The funny thing about the whole thing is that the mock booklets for Teen Summer Reading were sent out to the Teen Experience crew (which is basically the TAB leaders and some supervisors) to make sure the descriptions were spelled correctly and like 5 minutes after they were sent I got an email from one of the branch managers asking if she could help out with the golf.

This is after Girlscout asked if she could caddie.

And our Boss's Boss's Boss's Assistant gave me her stamp of approval today as well.

So if the teens are half as interested as the library employees are then we should be good.

I'm stoked.

I told her the more supervisors I can have on board the better as I'm still getting some apprehensive vibes.

We'll see how it goes and if it's awful then we'll learn from that and move on.

So that was the majority of my day, I finished the signs for the events - minus the kickoff party - and came up with supply lists. Anyone know where I can get 9 putters for like 3 hours on a June Wednesday afternoon?

There's a lot of golfers on staff maybe I can borrow them.

Anyway, so that was work. After work I met up with the boyfriend. We took some pictures around the train station - one of his favorite hobbies. He focused on the trains while I went more for the signs.

As in I saw the sign.



And it did open up my eyes cause I saw the sign.

Or sign, sign, everywhere a sign.



Blocking out the scenery breakin' my mind.

That one needs more words. Or be smaller. Cause it's awkward.

Quote of the night:
Boyfriend singing: I hope you're having fun, Man on the run...
Me: Band. 
Boyfriend: Band on the run...

Okay, you have to watch this.


Sorry, on Facebook - multitasking - and ran across a "whaaat?" meme, stupid addictive memes, so of course I had to search it and came across that.

Still laughing uncontrollably at 0:01 and 2:10-2:13.

Anyway, after pictures we went out to dinner with his mom and brother. Pizza at Old Chicago - gotta love it.

And now I'm back and ready to crash.

Though I'm debating staying up to do some editing, awesome writer friend sent me some updates to one of my favorites of hers and I'm dying to see them.

But that means I'll get hooked and not sleep and then tomorrow I'll be miserable.

Okay, it's 12 now. I need to be out by 1. That's the deal, no later.

We're good, music and I'm off to edit.

P!nk - Just Give Me a Reason feat. Nate Ruess



yes, that is the Fun. dude.

too catchy, love the melody.

out!

four italian suits, three former husbands...

Ah Christmas 2012.

An interesting adventure.

As previously mentioned I spent Christmas Eve with the boyfriend's family. Christmas Day I spent with his extended family.

But this was after our traditional Mom, Dad and myself Christmas. In which we got a bunch of snacks and random stuff.

Like ice melt.

And a furby.

It's purple and pretty and Carter will hate it.

I splurged on mom this year. Which she will realize after New Years but she says her favorite present was this massive book of sudoku's.

Is is sudoku or suduko?

I say suduko but I think it's actually supposed to be sudoku.

Oh well.

Anyway, so I got a lot for her and I got dad some music DVD's cause the ones he has he watches repeatedly and then makes other people watch them with him.

Meaning if he likes the Johnny Cash one I gave him or the other one he'll open next week it'll be my own fault.

Which I can't say about Moonshiners.

Swamp People perhaps, but not Moonshiners.

Never Moonshiners.

Run if you hear the word "Moonshiners".

Mom and I attempted but didn't get far.

Yet another one of his boondock reality shows.

I should keep a tally.

First there was Swamp People, then Big Shrimping, now there's Ax Men and Duck Dynasty...

I'm sure by the time I come home this weekend there will be more.

Anyway, so there were some small gifts and a VACUUM, woohoo! - shutup, it was on my list - and some spiced tea and then they were off to church and I was off to the boyfriend's to head out to see the extended family.

Every year they do something similar to ours where all the extended family gets together, eats a lot of food, does a gift exchange and then play cards.

It was an interesting adventure. He has even more family than me which is saying something cause I've got 20 cousins on one side and 11 on the other. But both of his parents have 7 siblings so at this one gathering there were 44 people all together in a room.

And of course the second I walk through the door everyone stops talking and goes, ummm.... introductions?

So I'm his girlfriend.

Which I'm aware of.

But it's nice to hear every once in a while.

He said some names but there are a lot of them and really we just jammed with his brother and sister-in-law.

Whom I love, they're fantastic. His sister and future brother-in-law were with the B-I-L's family, otherwise we would have jammed with them as well.

I was nervous but it wasn't that bad. I walked away with a bottle of Rumchata and he ended up with a cooler filled with redneck beer.

Courtesy of his brother.

We didn't stay for the cards. Our original plan was to head back to the farmhouse for a while to see my parents and then go see Les Mis at 10 but ended up crashing instead.

Not the car.

Crashing from exhaustion.

We did make it to the farm cause I had to get my stuff. Dad forced some reality TV on him and we took a tour of the shop - he has a building in his building.

He's painting a building in his building.

Cause the shop is heated.

He's cannibalizing an old building. They moved it from my brother's place - aka my grandpa's old place - to Dad's shop to be painted and then moved to yet another location.

I'm guessing behind the quonset.

Anyway, after the TV and the tour we packed up my stuff and headed back to the apartment to drop stuff off and the thoughts of Les Mis disappeared and we konked out instead.

Since I had to work this morning and left at 8 he slept in and brought me my keys around noon.

I know, now he's been in both the home branch and the work branch.

Shocking.

Queen of Awesome has met him twice and I'm gonna get so much crap tomorrow from Queen of the Known Universe cause she wasn't around when he came in.

But neither was Slim Shady.

She's ditching me.

I can say that now as it is official.

Which is a total bummer.

First Fearless Leader now Slim Shady.

What's going on with the youth of the library?

Who's next, the New Guy?

Even the chick that got hired the same day I did quit. And we were like the same age.

Anyway, I'm bummed but it's bittersweet for her.

It was nice to see the new AD in action today taking tours and all that. She was my professor I bonded with this semester joking about Koha and all that. The one that let us out early every session?

Anyway hired by the Library Goddess is awesome.

I say as she is my boss.

See how that works?

Anyway, she's great and she'll do great things as AD.

There was a lot going on today since we were closed for two days.

Some interesting stuff but mostly just a single incident was interesting.

An interesting encounter with a patron who claimed I said she could do stuff when I said she wasn't in fact allowed to do so and thankfully I had people there as witnesses, it was a mess.

But whatever, it's over.

The rest of the day flew by. Literally I looked at the clock and it was 5PM.

I think I got about 15 calls in an hour to renew books.

That was fun.

And I stopped by the home branch after work at the work branch cause I checked out a DVD at the home branch when I was there and then proceeded to leave it there.

Woops.

Game of Thrones.

Checking it out previously but never got around to watching it.

Will make more of an effort this time around.

And then after that Oldest Sister talked me into downloading Snapchat.

Which is like text messaging except it's with pictures.

She and Squirt were having far too much fun with it.

But I don't take pictures of myself, I mostly take stuff of stuff around me and since Carter is at the farmhouse - I know I'm super sad he's not here to sleep on my stomach but he likes the farm - it's Richard Castle or random stuff I write down.

Speaking of Castle, I read over last year's Day 12, interestingly enough Mom and I watched Castle again this year. Though last year it was season three, this year it was season four.

Alright, that's enough rambling. On to day 12 of the 12 days of non-sucking Christmas music.

Christmas Music that Doesn't Suck: Day Twelve

So I'm breaking all of my rules about consecutive postings and giving you the exact songs from last year because they're my favorites.

And get used to it cause you'll get the same next year.

If you were around last year it's no surprise that day twelve is The Twelve Days of Christmas.

It's the only song I can say is my favorite even though I hate the original.

Literally, if it weren't for Relient K I wouldn't be able to tell you the actual items given to me by my true love.

Cause I grew up on parodies.

So, here are my favorite parodies along with the Relient K cover.

Indian 12 Days of Christmas by boymongoose

and a totally insufficient dowry

Mashup version by Straight No Chaser

thanks Sensei.

Redneck Christmas by Jeff Foxworthy

classic

Rock version by Relient K

this one plays on my ipod no matter the season

and my personal favorite

Janice Dickinson's modeling version

yep, 1:02 is still my favorite. followed closely by 1:13

The problem with multiple parodies is that whenever I hear an actual version I'll sing a mix of the parodies that goes a little something like this.

12 Pack of Bud
11 Charges pending
10 Minute yoga
9 Years probation
8 Table Dancers
7-11 Workers
6 Cans of Spam
5 Flannel Shirts
4 Italian Suits
3 Former Husbands
2 Giant Breasts
and a totally insufficient dowry.


For last year's day twelve go here: And a totally insufficient dowry. 

I do have one more Christmas song to post but I'm saving it for after our family Christmas on the 1st.

Alright, that's enough out of me.

Hope you all had an awesome holiday.

if not for christmas, by new year's night

How morbid does it make me that this morning I kept skipping songs on the ipod-plugged in stereo claiming if I was to die in a tragic car accident that that song wouldn't want to be the last song I ever listened to?

Made for an interesting morning.

Usually it takes me 11 minutes to get to work so I figured if I made it down to the parking lot 30 minutes early I'd have enough time to dig myself out and drive slowly to work.

Didn't work that way.

Too much ice under the tires and every time I gunned it I kept moving more and more to the right. Which wasn't good cause there was a car right next to me. So I panic called my brother in law who then came over and dug me out.

Such a good guy.

1 hour later I was 4 blocks away, following a truck that kept getting stuck in the middle of intersections. Every time his two teenage sons would jump out and attempt to push him through but it would take so long that the light would turn red and they had to move him back .

You would think that a pickup with a snow plow on the front and snow blower in the back would be a bit more reliable.

And I assumed that particular road would be plowed exceptionally because it's so busy but I guess tomorrow I'll be taking the highway.

So I was late for the staff meeting. As were Slim Shady and my Trainee. Plus Queen of the Known Universe and the Library Judge missed the day all together.

What else? Oh, first day for our new Assistant Director. Thought she would introduce herself during the staff meeting but she was probably busy catching up on AD stuff put off for the last couple months. She was my teacher this semester - the one that let us out 2 hours early each time - but as she didn't introduce herself I'm okay with missing the meeting.

I guess that makes her BBB'sA

And that's pretty much it. Lots of off desk time today so not many highlights. Gave SuperWoman her present. Every year I get her something Angry Birds related since she got me hooked. Stuffed one that make noise, calendar, this year it's christmas ornaments.

On to the music - Christmas Music That Doesn't Suck - Day Seven

Slight change to this one as well. Last year I included Achmed's Jingle Bombs and can't post it two years in a row so I'm switching it out with Please Come Home For Christmas.

Jingle Bells - Sungha Jung


incredible talent, wish I could play like that.


Walking in a Winter Wonderland - Jason Mraz


intriguing.

andrews sisters was a close second


Please Come Home For Christmas - CeeLo Green



I know Sketch doesn't like him but I bought his xmas CD anyway and it rocks. Week before I bought the Blake one as well. No Adam but is guest appearance by Christina Aguilera.

Really gonna miss her on the Voice. Shakira, while highly entertaining - second CD I remember buying with my own money, first was Spice Girls - is just very different style-wise, but it should be interesting to watch.