Hot Babes Getting Hotter: You'll See Less Of Us Soon

They're bringing book-it back.
All of us readers know just how to act.
Hit the library, pull books from the stacks.
Pass up on those by literary hacks.

None of them abridged!

Go ahead, read more of it.


Why yes that was a spin on a Justin Timberlake "classic."

Sorry, nerd.

But yes they're bringing it back. Apparently even as an adult you can get free pizza. Did anyone else do that in grade school? You read so many pages and then you get free stuff from Pizza Hut. It was awesome. Will have to look into that.

Dangit...now that's gonna be stuck in my head all night. Moving on.


Interesting couple of weeks with lots to post about. Will attempt to cover them in some semblance of order.

First up: Leadership Award

So, remember when that library patron was having a stroke and we had to call 911 and all that? If not, go here.

Superwoman decided that we handled it well so she nominated me for this leadership award. I didn't win - not that I was expecting to - but I got to go to this luncheon and be honored and all that. She wrote up a very nice summary of what happened and other stuff I'm involved in and they read it all outloud.

It was fun - I got free food, woohoo! Plus Mom came up which was nice. It was amusing cause afterwards Superwoman was like "I thought we had it in the bag!" and Girlscout after asking if I won said "well, did anyone else save someone's life?!"

Really not that big of a deal, but entertaining that they were so passionate about it.

Honestly I'm just glad he came to us and we were able to get him help, I can only imagine what would have happened if he went somewhere else.

Anyway, it's nice to feel appreciated every once in a while. Plus it was a good opportunity to meet people who also work for the city/county and hear their stories and all that.


Next up: Motley Crue/Alice Cooper/Raskins

I don't know what it is with us and concerts lately, but there's been a lot of drama. See this.

Last time it was "I will shoulder a 12-year-old for you, that's love."
This time it was "I would punch that girl in the face for you, that's love."

I took off work early so we could get there with plenty of time to check in to our hotel and find our seats. Hotel room was nice, had a hot tub and all that, huzzah.

Then when we got to the concert we found our seats and watched the first band. People starting filling in around us and suddenly we hear this girl say "they're in our seats." We double check our tickets and they're correct so we assume she's talking about someone else. Suddenly the usher shows up wanting to see our tickets. He confirms they're legit and goes back to the girl. Hers also say the same seats. Turns out she had booked that entire row for her family and we were in the middle of it all. The usher made us get up and go to guest services. We went and they claimed they can't do anything without both sets of tickets and that there's no possible way to have duplicate tickets if they're legit. Since the other people with the tickets didn't come with us they wrote down different seat numbers on the tickets and told us to sit there. They were just a few seats down, but still in the middle of the family. When we pointed that out and that they had that whole row booked the lady said that those two seats were unsold so that wasn't possible.

I assume that means the error was on the family's end if the event center has no record of them having all the tickets, but whatever.

We went back to our section and on the way ran into that girl. I asked if she would go to guest services, she said no and walked away. When we got back to our section we told the usher. He confirmed there were people in that entire row and offered to go to guest services with us. After talking it through with the usher there to back us up they moved us to the opposite side of the concert. Meanwhile we're missing Alice Cooper - not that I'm a huge fan, but the boyfriend missed a song he liked. When we got to our new seats there were people in those too! That meant getting yet another usher who kicked them out and we finally got to sit down and watch the concert. We were glad to be way on the opposite side as that family, but our seats were right behind the exit so there were constantly people standing up in front of us going in and out.

But whatever, eventually it calmed down and it was a good show. Lots of pyrotechnics, though my favorite part was when Tommy Lee and his drumset went into the audience.

Look at this:



See that lighted box toward the left attached to the red bars? That's him strapped on to his drums, doing flips and drumming upside down.

Cool right?

Here are some of my other favorite shots.














After the madness that was the concert we got back to the hotel, ordered pizza - so did everyone else getting back from the concert according to the woman on the phone - and relaxed in our hot tub watching Pawn Stars 'til the pizza arrived.

After having a hot tub in that hotel and the Luxor I have decided that once we're married and have a house our first major purchase should be a hot tub.

Sounds reasonable, right?


Third is a visit from one half of P Squared. 

So after a weekend filled with all of our teams losing we have come to the conclusion that we are no longer allowed to watch sports together. Went to the hockey game and we lost against our rivals. Went to the Husker game and we lost to Minnesota. Watched the Bruins play and they lost to the Canadiens. The only team that did win this weekend was the Blackhawks and that was because - you guessed it - we didn't watch it. So no more sports for us when we're together. Otherwise we'll have to start rooting for teams we don't like so they'll lose. Hmm... Was good to see her though. With the exception of a random lunch a few months ago it's been years since we've hung out which is weird cause we used to all the time. She's a friend from back home and by back home I mean when we were little on the farm. Used to ride the bus together every day. Got separated in high school but still did every New Years together. Yes she's one of P Squared who I did all the New Years, Dance Dance Revolution, running around the house with sparkling cider and shooting it all over the place at midnight with. But I've already rambled to you about that. Was good to hang out though especially now that she's got this fancy new job and is moving yet again. Crazy!


Fourth is Mockingjay Part One. 

When putting together our schedule for this year's TAB events the first thing on their wishlist was to do a Mockingjay party like we did for Catching Fire last year. I got it cleared so we went and it was great. Went to the library early, set stuff up then we all met at the theater. We were in the new one with those fancy seats - I don't know if they have these at your theater or not but in this one they're like barcaloungers. You can put your feet up and they've got cupholders and all that. Just ridiculously cool. The movie was great, then we walked back to the library for trivia, games and snacks. For trivia this year I added something special - if you got your question right you had the opportunity to shoot an arrow at a target for more points. The team that won hit the bullseye twice so in the end it wasn't even close. The string obstacle course was Level 2 compared to last year - much harder. I think I posted pictures of that last year - here's the one from this year.



Much more challenging. Not a single kid made it through without knocking down a string. The rule was you can touch them but if you knock one down 10 seconds was added to your time. The one who got through the fastest was one of mine so I was proud. While some were doing that others were eating snacks and discussing book vs. movie. I was proud that most of them had read it, which made the trivia a lot better cause most of it was from the book instead of the movie.


Fifth is a family reunion.

My cousin just retired after 20 years in the airforce and is making the rounds. Was the first time I've seen him in at least a decade. I can't even remember the last time which probably means it was a funeral back in 2003. He missed out on our Vegas trip a few years back cause he was God knows where. Was good to see him and actually amusing because he flies military airplanes and the boyfriend makes parts for them so they had plenty to talk about.


Sixth is a visit from my favorite team - Stars at the library! 

Two players came for storytime and read hockey picture books to the kids. They even danced and signed posters for them. It was super cute and the kids got really into it. I took a bunch of pictures for the website and then of course had to get a picture with them myself. Not a stalker I promise, though I was wearing my signed jersey. It was awesome. Posted that picture to my Twitter, now one of them follows me, the other one favorited it, and it got retweeted by the team. Then this morning I learned that the team's official Twitter starting following me. Take that Bembridge Scholars.

Don't ask.


Seventh is the Code Word. 

I've been doing a bunch of training lately for two of our new employees. I explained to them our code word to get away from the desk and told them some of my horror/amusing stories from the past. Most notable being "likes ass or jazz" and the double emergency when Queen of the Known Universe coded me so I could get away and then the same guy latched on to her and I had to code her out too. Soon after telling them about the code I was talking to the female security guard and a guy came up to her claiming he was a musician and needed a security guard to escort him around the library so he wouldn't be mobbed by crazy fans. I didn't recognize him but Wordie did and said he was full of crap. Soon after she returned and said he did it to get her alone cause he asked if she was single. Cheesy but slick, I can dig it.


Eighth is Thanksgiving/Day After. 

Did lunch with his family and then afternoon/supper with mine. Lunch was good. The restaurant was packed but I'm glad we went because the other part of the family that was planning to come couldn't make it. After lunch we headed to my sister's place where we watched football, looked through Christmas ads, and then he slept cause he went to work that night afterwards. Voluntarily. Cause he's crazy like that. I stayed over at the farmhouse and the next day set up the trees. I took a break mid-tree to eat lunch with mom and my great aunt at her nursing home. They did a baked potato bar and then had the game going for the residents that wanted to watch. The staff there was quite passionate about the game, chanting the Go Big Red cheer, leading the wave (regular and slow motion with the residents), playing the fight song over the loudspeaker, and then singing Kum-ba-ya when we were doing awful. It was highly entertaining.


Ninth is a list of miscellaneous stuff that I found amusing or interesting:

The Queen of Awesome and I have decided to start eating healthier. We're calling our diet "Hot Babes Getting Hotter: You'll See Less of Us Soon."

While stocking supplies last week I stopped by third floor. I passed our new Supply Queen and told her "I'm here to steal your kleenex's." She paused and then said "All I could think of in response to that was 'blow me' but I didn't think it would be appropriate." I told her I would have given her a thumbs up.

Have done a plethora of exciting displays at work recently. Turned a triangle display into a turkey:



and then a snowman:



And then upstairs we had Movember - I stuck mustaches on books with faces on them -




and Readbox - made up of books that were turned into movies.



Election day came and went. My coworkers and I discussed how many people were running unopposed and my boss said that her daughter is a hardcore democrat so if there were any republicans running unopposed instead of voting for them she was going to write her mother's (aka my boss's) name in the box. I decided that was entertaining so I wrote her in for county sheriff. As that's basically what she does here.

A TAB member told me she learned how to parallel park from a video on Youtube. The problem? It was a British video so she had to learn how to do it backwards.

Got my hair dyed and one of the first people to notice was a security guard. Even before the boyfriend who has yet to say anything about it. It's darker red with blonde highlights. Working away from the fire engine red hair even though I miss it...But it was hilarious, the guard comes up to me, does a double-take and says, "you changed your hair." "yep." "it's red." "yep." "and short." "yep." "looks nice." then walks away.

The boyfriend and I finally watched Jersey Boys.

Was excellent, loved the music, though I fell asleep during part of it. Scale of Awesome says 7/10.

We also watched A Million Ways To Die in The West

It was interesting...had its moments though they were few and far between. People die at the fair. Cameo by Doc Brown. That's about it. Scale of Awesome says 5/10.

And There's Something About Mary

Another one of those movies that my brother and I would have left to get popcorn during the awkward parts. It's amusing that we're similar like that. I just can't sit there and watch when people are in awkward uncomfortable situations, it makes me cringe. If I'm by myself I will fast forward but if I'm with others I'll just leave. Scale of Awesome says 6/10.

And Old School

Interesting to see Ellen Pompeo in this one since I'm so used to her as Meredith. Like a flashback to her college tequila days or something. The boyfriend loved it. It had its moments. Scale of Awesome says 7/10.


Last is: The Voice

Finally we're to the finals. Here's where my top 20 stands.

Damien - Adam - won battle – won knockout - survived 1st/2nd/3rd/4th lives - WILDCARD WINNER
James David Carter - Blake - won battle – won knockout - eliminated in lives
Kelli Douglas - Adam - eliminated in battles
Anita Antoinette - Gwen - won battle – won knockout - survived 1st/2nd lives - eliminated in 3rd lives
Luke Wade - Pharrell - won battle – won knockout - survived 1st/2nd/3rd lives - eliminated in 4th lives

Toia Jones - Pharrell - stolen by Adam – lost in knockouts
Maiya Sykes - Pharrell - eliminated in battles
Joe Kirk - Adam - eliminated in battles
Jessie Pitts - Gwen - stolen by Blake – won knockout - saved by Blake in 1st lives - eliminated in 2nd lives
Taylor Phelan - Pharrell - won battle – stolen by Adam - eliminated in lives

Chris Jamison - Adam - won battle – won knockout - saved by Adam in 1st lives - survived 2nd/3rd lives - saved in 4th lives
Mia Pfirrman - Adam - won battle – won knockout - eliminated in lives
Fernanda Bosch - Blake - eliminated in battles
Beth Spangler - Adam - stolen by Gwen – eliminated in knockouts
Matt McAndrew - Adam - won battle – won knockout - survived 1st/2nd/3rd/4th lives

Taylor John Williams - Gwen - won battle – won knockout - survived 1st/2nd/3rd/4th lives - eliminated in 5th lives
Katriz Trinidad - Pharrell - won battle – eliminated in knockouts
Jean Kelley - Gwen - stolen by Pharrell – won knockout - eliminated in lives
Troy Ritchie - Gwen - won battle – lost in knockouts
Taylor Brashears - Blake - won battle – won knockout - eliminated in lives

Damien got eliminated but then brought back as the WILDCARD! Awesomeness! So not bad since I have 3 out of the 4 remaining. I would have all 4 but for some reason I switched out Craig Wayne Boyd from my top 20 even though his was only one of the few blind audition singles I actually bought.

Even though I'm happy for Damien I'm guessing either Craig or Matt will win. Most likely Matt, but maybe Craig. Right now I'm happy with whoever.


On to the music, here are my rec's for the week:

Uptown Funk - Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars


new theme song for the Queen of the Known Universe...fitting for our Hot Babes Hotter plan. love mark ronson. reminds me a bit of Ladies Night or James Brown.


Lips are Moving - Meghan Trainor



the more i hear from her the more i love her. she's more than all about that bass, honestly, look into her other stuff, it's fantastic. dear future husband, close your eyes, title, and now this. i'm stoked for the new album coming out soon!

in fact i think she has officially reached Current Top 5 Favorites status, bumping out Eminem cause I don't like his new stuff.

that puts us at:

1. Maroon 5
2. She & Him
3. Lily Allen
4. Karmin
5. Meghan Trainor

and guess what, SHE'S TOURING this spring!! so exciting. now if only Lily Allen were to come back to the US sometime soon....this time not as miley cyrus' opening act...honestly i would have gone to see her and then left before miley. she's too much of a wrecking ball for me.


Hanging Tree - Jennifer Lawrence


heard this in mockingjay and haven't stopped singing it since. totally haunting moment but complete momentum shift in the storyline.


God Only Knows - Matt McAndrew


was so excited since it's one of my favorite songs from my youth. he covered it very well.

i grew up on their music, and mr. tom and i listened to it many times while i was doing my practicum internship. lots of beach boys, eagles, and halloween music playing in the background, it was highly entertaining.


Back Home Baller - Saturday Night Live


i just have the "bowls, bowls, all type of bowls" part stuck in my head. driving me nuts but i love it!


Alright that's all I got. More soon. Already planning out my 12 Days of Christmas Music That Doesn't Suck - woohoo!

"Do you work here?" "No." "Oh, well there's a reindeer stuck in the tree."

Lots more to scrapbook. Really need to post more. I'll attempt to go in order.

Superwoman has officially dubbed me as our branch's Staff Association Liaison.

I can never spell that word right, had to Google it.

If you don't work at my library system, Staff Association is basically a group of people from all over the system who work together to promote comradery amongst staff. We host events, send out cards, and all that. We haven't done it for years but then one of my comrades brought it back - making her president.

That's what happens when you want things to happen, you get put in charge. Isn't it lovely?

She even bribed us youngsters with food so we would join.

By youngsters I mean myself and the New Guy.

Everyone else at my branch that's my age has bailed.

But that's another story.

Anyway, so we've been having meetings and they're super fun and also planning a lot of fun stuff. They had a Staff Association picnic at the park - which I missed, though I did text The New Guy to take pictures if they attempted anything athletic.

You've gotta know my people, it would be hilarious. Especially if it were something like volleyball or kickball. Apparently they went with frisbee cause anyone can play that.

Next up is the Holiday Breakfast, where everyone brings food - I know, I'll have to practice beforehand so I don't kill anyone - and there are raffles and all that. After that in the spring we're thinking bowling and wine tasting in the summer.

Should be fun. In the meantime I'm on the cheeseball committee.

Basically we make cheeseballs for the holiday breakfast and then if people want to order any of their own we will supply them.

Remember how I can't cook?

But I was promised there would be wine so I'm there. As long as I don't have to actually cook anything, I think I'm capable of mixing cheese with nuts or whatever it is that goes into cheeseballs - my family makes them all the time but I've never been involved in the process.

Better not mention it to them, then they'd expect me to start making them. Especially since there's usually a large number of people who order them so I'd be a pro by the end of it.

Anyway, I'm excited that Staff Association is back. I bugged Superwoman for years about staff morale and starting something similar. Now I'm just glad I'm not in charge.

Moving on.

Guess what season it is!!

Fall!!

Which means I get both ice hockey and football!

And, I get to see them both in person this upcoming weekend!

That was me all summer, BTW.

For ice hockey our first official game of the season is on Friday and then I'm going with the Cool Aunt to the Husker game on Saturday!

Super excited, we used to go to the Kansas game but since we switched conferences I haven't been to one in person. The away games are so far away now and the home ones sell out in like 10 minutes.

As for ice hockey, we actually hosted two different pre-season games at our ice box, and in both games we've come from behind to win.

Which is good for the team but bad for my heart.

The best thing about the first game was that season ticket holders got to go early and meet the players and tour the locker room so I got them to sign a bunch of stuff. Since the boyfriend was out of town I took Smo and it was awesome. We went through the signing line a couple of times, cause we're awesome like that. I took a ton of pictures and we won IN OVERTIME so it was extra awesome.

Plus Smo got a sweatshirt with a beer koozie and bottle opener in it.



Enough said.

Here are some of my favorite pics:



Up close and personal with the ice, yet far enough away to avoid me falling on my face.



Smo with the zamboni.

College flashback - Professor Hargin-Smith: "What's a zamboni? Pasta?"



Gotta have the suit jackets...



This guy is a stud. Gonna be high scorer all season, I'm calling it now.







Love these guys.



Ludvig for the win!

The second game the boyfriend was also gone so I took the eldest member of P Squared. Both members are huge hockey fans and the eldest is soon moving to Vegas for a job so I figured it'd be good to jam before she officially left us. More reasons to go back to Vegas.

Again we came from behind to win but this time it was in the third period.





I love our section, we are loud and obnoxious. There are two guys who sit behind us and commentate and they're hilarious. Plus the guys around me yell at anyone who stands up during the game - you're supposed to remain seated when the puck is in play so people can see and also so you don't get hit with flying pucks - but since they yell at them it means I don't have to so it's nice.

Next up to scrapbook are some work adventures. I mean actual adventures as I ventured out into the wild.

Literally.

A middle school and a zoo, both are extremely wild places.

First was the middle school. I got to jam with Sam - who needs a nickname, we had like 10 classes together for grad school plus now she works at a branch in my system - at a middle school over their lunch period and talk about books. It was fun.

Of course the girls are all into Fault in Our Stars and other John Green books, and then the boys are more into fantasy like Warriors and such. But there was some crossover. We ended the session with some Harry Potter trivia and my god they were shouting the answers before I could even think of them in my head.

Do you know how many pieces Ron tore up the letter from Percy into?

They did.

It was eight if you were curious.

The next day it was fun at the zoo with Girlscout. The zoo hosted a thing for area school's and lots of businesses (including us) had booths there to promote ourselves and our services. We had stuff for the kids to make bookmarks and it was crazy busy. We're thinking a good 350 kids in under 3 hours.

It was swamped, but lots of fun. Once we got into the rhythm that is. Though for both of us, our favorite part was when a parent came up to us and asked if we worked at the zoo.

We were like no.

And she was like, Oh, well there's a reindeer stuck in a tree.

That's something you don't see very often, however we were informed by a zookeeper - who also happens to be married to another one of our comrades (remember Big Brother?) - that it is shedding it's fur so she gave him branches to help out.

Bummer. We thought he was practicing for Christmas.

Night after that was sister's night out for Oldest Sister's birthday. We took her to the Parthenon. Lots of good food plus a bottle of wine - we were there for a few hours so it was a lot of fun. And I'd post quotes but most of which are inappropriate.

I'll let you ask my nephew yourself how he describes his older sister's music.

Best. Bubby. Line. Ever.

Then, yesterday was the Husker game against Miami.

Another one that was bad for my heart - for the first half at least. While I'm usually very proud of our fans for being nice people and cheering for both teams as they leave the field, I feel like the booing of Miami this time was warranted. There were quite a few scuffles going on during the game, I'm just glad Gregory made it off the field without being injured over something stupid.

And Fear Ameer man, that guy's definitely going pro. I don't know what we'd do without him. And Bell, he was great, but he always is. Too bad Westercamp didn't have any big plays, that guy has been on fire so far this season. I'm bummed Turner is out for the season - he was one of my favorites - but he'll be back next year, hopefully. Armstrong is impressive, you can tell he worked a lot in the off season.

I'll stop, I know you don't care.

On to the music:

Dear Future Husband - Meghan Trainor


Yes I bought her EP the day it came out. This is my second favorite behind All About That Bass. Total throwback style.

Here it is live, she's not bad.



I can't say the same for the cameraman.


It Must Be Love - Christina Grimmie


Totally underrated single. Love it. Not just cause it's her and the Voice comes back tomorrow...

Try Me On - Karmin


Still in love with these guys, even moreso after seeing them live.


And that's all I got.

The boyfriend gets back from the west coast tonight and I get to see him tomorrow, woohoo! Only been gone for like two weeks...and then he's leaving again so I'm taking Queen of the Known Universe to the first hockey game.

Apparently it's gotta be the whole date experience. Food and a t-shirt. Should be fun.

this one longing to be thinner that one wants to get the girl and do i help them? yes indeed.

Yes, I took the weekend off.

No, I'm not lying somewhere in a ditch.

That's actually one of my favorite home branch memories - as horrible as it sounds, it's funnier now.

Basically my phone went nuts and my alarm didn't go off so I woke up late and missed part of work and since my phone was messed up I couldn't make or receive any calls to call in to let them know what was going on. By the time I finally got there I was like freaking out cause I thought I was gonna get fired and they started clapping cause I wasn't dead somewhere in a ditch.

Thanks for that guys.


Anyway, it was nice to have the weekend off but I'm back with a vengeance.


FRIDAY:

Slept in, it was glorious.

Then went shopping with Oldest Sister for shirts for work.

But we couldn't leave the store with just shirts.

Apparently, every female with a pulse is required to own boots.

It's some sort of contract that we sign when we're born.

And apparently cowboy boots aren't enough so I got another pair that my boyfriend calls "camo" but I call "steampunk". They're awesome.

The best part was that Oldest Sister hated them! And wanted me to get this other pair so I tried them both on and then she was like, ugh. I like your choice better.

Victory!

They have pockets.

I don't know what to put in the pockets but they're there.

And they're awesome so I wore them to work today.

And it turned out much better than that time I wore the cowboy boots to work.

Which is on here somewhere I believe. It just happened to be the busiest day that week so I was constantly running up and down the stairs with the boots, my feet were dead by the end of the day.

But today was much better and these are more comfortable. The boyfriend was stunned. Take that world.

Anyway, back to Friday, so slept in, went shopping, then headed out to see the boyfriend. He changed my oil cause he's sweet like that.

Then we watched Heat cause apparently it's the action movie to kill all action movies and neither of us had seen it.



Literally.

Scale of Awesome says about 6/10. It was alright but it wasn't all that. I did enjoy the cast though, they were good.

My problem was that I fell asleep about halfway through - we didn't start it until 9 since he didn't have to go in to work so it wasn't over 'til 12 and then I didn't get back 'til 1.

Which made Saturday even more interesting as I had to work.


SATURDAY:

So I was in zombie mode for most of the day, plus I felt like crap so it wasn't a fun day. But that's okay, worked 9-6, got to clean the bathroom after someone threw toilet paper all over the place, then came home and watched some Charlie's Angels.

Cause it's about that time again. Every few months I gotta bring it back. Starting with season one again.

I know, I know, but if I start at season one then by the time I get through season three I'll be distracted and then won't have time to watch seasons four or five where Sabrina leaves and we're stuck with crap.

Which I can only assume without verification as even though I own both seasons I've avoided them like the plague.

Also did some homework and lots of reading.



SUNDAY:

aka today.

Wore the boots, they're awesome. Will consider wearing them again tomorrow.

Spent the majority of my day working on booklists as Sundays are slow. Found some more crazy millionaires worthy of my Million Dollar Crazies booklist. Sent a copy to the Queen of Awesome, we'll see what she thinks of my list. I keep coming up with more! Tom Cruise, Michael Jackson, Lady Gaga, Howard Hughes, Howie Mandel, Justin Bieber, Leona Helmsley, Robert Klark Graham, Gatsby, Tony Stark, etc. etc. Yes, I'm including fiction too.

Talked to some teens about joining TAB and they seemed pretty interested. Been seeing them around lately and the girl seems like she would really like it so I gave them both applications. Hope to see them in September.

What else?

Oh, had the song Poor Unfortunate Souls stuck in my head all day cause I have copies of Barbarous Souls checked out for my mom and every time I look at my account I see them and for some reason Ursula and her eels pop into my head.

And they drive me nuts.

After work went out to see the boyfriend yet again, we got supper, watched part of the VMA's and then jammed at Walmart buying donuts and checking out their $5 DVD selection.

It was thoroughly exciting, just enough of a break from reality that it was perfect.

So, now I am back and off to bed. More work tomorrow cause there's no rest for the wicked.


Song of the day:

Well, the week rather cause I've been singing it ever since I checked them out for her weeks ago.

Poor Unfortunate Souls - Pat Carroll


the ultimate villain song. her voice is perfect for the role. true? yes! 

i haven't seen this movie in a decade and a half, watching it now HOW COULD SHE TAKE THAT DEAL?! seriously?

kind of makes me want to go back and watch some of the other classics. now that i'm much older and a bit wiser i'll probably catch quite a bit more.

lady gaga's outfit reminded me of ariel tonight.

speaking of the VMA's dude!! NSync reunion!!



jump to 9:55 for the awesomeness.

the boyfriend wasn't an enthused about it as i was.

as i immediately texted Instacake.

cause that's how i roll.


and i'm out. hope you all had a great weekend.

Okay, I'm off to the races. Literally.

So this afternoon was kind of a blur.

There was so much going on that my head almost exploded.

But that's okay cause tonight made up for it.

And the day started off just fine...

Got the last parking spot - leaving earlier tomorrow, stupid construction taking up half the lot - checked in the new books, put out all the stuff for display, shelved DVDs, sorted carts, worked the desk, planned for my Catching Fire party - gonna be awesome, more details on that one to come - and then 5:00 rolls around and there are only 4 of us there to close, 2 for each floor which is fine until 1 of the 1st floor people leaves to count the money leaving the other person completely alone.

After she left to count I had a guy come up with over $500 in fines wanting me to waive them cause his card was stolen, then didn't understand why I wouldn't and instead told him to fill out a waiver form. But then he wouldn't leave and just stood at the desk for 10 minutes watching me help other patrons like I was going to change my mind. Sorry dude, don't have that kind of authority. Then there was the guy who wanted to get a library card but I couldn't understand what he was saying so I kept making him repeat everything. Then there was another dude who was looking for books I guess he had turned in earlier that day and he didn't understand why I wouldn't drop everything I was doing to help these two patrons ahead of him in line just to find those books, thankfully by that time InfoMan had come to save me.

By the time I got out of there there was no looking back. Made it to the races right as the warmups were starting. My first race there ever, which is weird for a southern Nebraska girl to say apparently.



I can now say, from experience, that there are all kinds that come to races, but the most prominent would definitely be the beer-drinking redneck.

I was surrounded by cowboy boots and baseball caps.

But I got to see my "mom" aka my surrogate mother from back home. I would spend a lot of my summers hanging out with her kids at their house. Though I think they spent even more at my house playing DDR and throwing crackers at the TV.

"Hey Carson!"

Was cool to jam with her. Introduced her to the boyfriend, think she met him before P Squared - the daughters - have. Woops.

The races were fun. I think the boyfriend was surprised I made it through the whole night without complaining. Like he was with the motorcar trip. Went by a lot faster than expected and after them we went over to meet his favorite driver. Got to go in the semi so he could buy a shirt and then I took his picture with him and with the car - see Facebook.

Rednecks are awesome, I grew up surrounded by them, as a farm kid there's no escaping that joy, but can someone explain the whole "take a tire home with you" thing?

Like the drivers give them tires to take home.

Not like the whole thing, just the rubber part. What are you going to do with it? It's too big to hang on the wall. Do you make it into a chair?

I'm just lost and confused as to this aspect of racing. Maybe you can shed some light.

And that's all I got for today. Music and I'm out, big day tomorrow.


Convoy - CW McCall


heard this on the way back and i had to laugh. was surrounded by trucks after coming out of the races. huzzah for CB radios.

omaha?!

you'd better change it back or we will both be sorry.

So I finally checked my grades today.

All A's for the semester so I'm at a 3.96 which isn't bad for grad school.

It'd be a 4.0 if it weren't for that A- man.

Killing me, Smalls!

So, two days to make up for.

Here we go.

Saturday, December 29th

Slept in, huzzah.

Ate lunch with the parentals. Turkey roast, potatoes and broccoli.

Apparently they're so easy even I could make them.

Not that I did, or have, but could.

At one point.

Attempt to make one.

Without burning down my apartment.

Watched some Castle with Mom and then headed off to see P squared for our early New Year's celebration.

See, every year we do our annual New Year's party thing in which we play games, watch all the music stuff - why are they still calling it "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve" if he's dead? Not that I want it to change to anything with Ryan Seacrest in the title, but still? - drink sparkling cider and stay up far too late.

This year we covered most of those, though no running around the house like we used to. Though at midnight we did all yell "Happy New Year!" Amidst an intense game of Apples to Apples. Which you know already if you're on Facebook as I posted like 6 pictures of, "what the hell should i pick out of these options?"

As there were only 3 of us playing we laid down 2 red cards each every turn so there were more to choose from. And we worked our way through all of the red cards like we did last Thanksgiving but since we had like triple the players then this took much longer.

But we had fun.

I ended up coming from behind, winning with 67 green cards.

Wicked awesome. For a while I was getting my butt kicked cause I kept drawing people and countries.

And they make for lame nouns.

Then I got some good ones all in a row and came back to win it.

So that was fun. But you can tell we're getting old cause our old method of throwing a big ass amount of pillows and blankets on the floor and sleeping on the pile watching movies has now become all sleeping in legitimate beds or couches in separate rooms.

But I watched World's Dumbest for like 2 minutes before I was out like a late.

And we did watch a movie earlier in the night - Live Free or Die Hard which the younger of the squared hadn't seen.

Or any of them which makes me want to cry inside cause they're classics.

Well, the first one at least.

The only thing I remember about other two were Samuel L. Jackson, something about a school and then almost hitting a clown in a parking lot or park or something.

Though I think those are all in the same one.

Oh well, I own them. I'll go back and watch them again sometime when I'm bored.

Stoked for number 5 coming out next year.

So that was Friday. No, Saturday, cause today's Sunday.

This whole no work thing is messing with my mind.

Sunday, December 30th 

Okay so today was totally different. Woke up on the couch around 9:45. Set my alarm and everything though it was more like 9:50 by the time I got up and about 15 minutes after that before I left her apartment. Headed to see the boyfriend so we could drive up with his dad to see his sister on her birthday but he was sick.

Cold, chills, cough and all that.

Which I think Queen of the Known Universe has now as well so it must be going around.

Anyway, he stayed home to nap and all that so the boyfriend and I drove up by ourselves. Taking the scenic route as always so he could look at trains. Had his camera there just in case though he didn't stop like after the Xmas party.

Which is fine, though reminds me a bit of how my father is always making my mother go places to take pictures of trains.

We went out for dinner and then went to her place to open presents. Her boyfriend got her bop-it so the boys were playing it. The boyfriend had the high score when we left but Dion's probably already beaten it.

As we were leaving his mom noticed that I have a headlight out so we took backroads to his place to avoid the cops cause of our record with fix it tickets but then the light came back on randomly.

But then went out.

And then came back on again so I was okay to drive.

Which is weird though, right? Cause usually when it goes out it stays out?

Anyway, I need to get that checked out and my oil changed. Oh well, got time.

After we got to his place we watched some movie with Halle Berry, Bruce Willis and the dude that plays Phoebe's brother on Friends. I never learned his name but he's always amusing.

Lots of Bruce Willis this weekend.

I slept through a lot of it so Scale of Awesome would only be for half the movie but the parts I did see were a bit creepy. Not what I was expecting.

Alright, tomorrow is a big day. No plans set in stone, think we're gonna wing it.

May go to my sister's or go get dinner or see a movie or whatever. It's interesting to have no plans but I've never been in a serious relationship on New Year's.

So I don't know was normal people do on New Year's cause I'm used to music TV, movies and running around the house spraying sparking cider everywhere.

I should sleep, it's late. The stoplights were blinking again when I left. Gotta love small towns.


irony since we listened to it on the way there and then had only one on the way back.

though every time i hear it i think about fiction writing and my unfinished story. it could be awesome but i'm stuck.

“Well they say she died easy of a broken heart disease, as I listen through the cemetery trees.” – One Headlight, The Wallflowers

A week ago you were healthy. A week ago you were happy. A week ago we were together. Now you’re dead… and it’s my fault.

for more go here: this is a week of my favorite things day five

wrote it back with my awesome writing group in the college. back in the days when i actually had time for that stuff.


aw, 80's music.

out!

She's cooler than a pocket on a t-shirt.

Interesting drive home from the boyfriend's place.

Saw not 9, not 10, not 11, but 12 shooting stars.

Had to switch from iPod to radio just to double check the world wasn't ending.

Interesting day as well.

The morning was suck-ish but it picked up in the afternoon. Gotta love fun coworkers.

And mom brought cookies.

She's the favorite cause every time she comes she brings them food. Sent out a mass email to eat the cookies but there were so many I took half of them home.

I'm partial to the koolaid ones, they rock.

Yes, koolaid cookies.

They're pink.

And awesome.

Welcome to Nebraska.

Ah, crap. Was gonna send the rest with the boyfriend to work.

Probably best, he gets enough crap about his girlfriend.

What else from today?

Ordered pizza for the party on Saturday. Helped set up for the holiday breakfast tomorrow.

Everything is "holiday" no specifics.

How tainted am I that when we went out for dinner tonight and I saw a nativity scene set up in the parking lot I went, "wow, you think they could get in trouble for that?"

After work headed out to see the boyfriend. We ate and watched The Hoff get roasted on Comedy Central and then some sort of rattlesnake hunting show on Animal Planet. Can't remember the title.

But reminded me of Swamp People.

And of that exterminator show.

Do you think if someone dies while filming they'll show that episode?

It's gonna happen sooner or later. These people are stupid. Don't know how you could do that for a living.

Now I'm back and watching the Bourne Legacy aka Bourne 4. Hurray for Rachel Weisz and Jeremy Renner, two of my favorites.

Even though it's not actually Bourne I still refer to it as Bourne 4.

What else am I supposed to call it, Cross 1?

I'm intrigued by this side of the story and finally bought 1-3 so I'm tempted to rewatch those.

Usually we watch one of them on New Years but this year will be the first year since 7th grade - except like 1 year, I think we missed 1 year - that I'm not jamming with P Squared.

That's a lot of DDR marathons, Bourne, Pirates and sparkling cider.

But that means I get to spend it with the boyfriend so it's okay.

Alright on to the music. Song of the day:

Off all day tomorrow. Sleeping in and shopping with Oldest Sister for some Xmas stuff.

Bang on the Drum All Day - Todd Rundgren

OUT!

And you, young Skywalker, we shall watch your career with great interest.

I'm starting to worry about my cat's affections.

As of lately, he seems to like the boyfriend more than me.

For instance, the boyfriend and I went to see Star Wars Episode One in 3D tonight, then came back here, where he laid on him, who was laying on the couch.

Physically laid on him.

Didn't even acknowledge me.

After he left Carter came and sat by me.

It's like settling for second best or something.

Granted he still sleeps on top of me, so I have the edge there.

But seriously, starting to worry he will be the favorite.

Which is not cool, when I'm the one feeding him, and cleaning up after him, paying for him to be shaved.

Mom - or Grandma as I call her when she comes to visit, she just loves that let me tell you being a grandma to a cat - says he looks fatter now that he's shaved.

Which he doesn't.

Yes, he's fat, but without the fur he's lost like ten pounds.

I think he knows I'm writing about him.

He's giving me weird looks.

Saying he likes the boyfriend better than me. The boyfriend doesn't write about him on a blog.

Speaking of the boyfriend, so yes we saw Star Wars in 3D and it was fantastic.



The sad thing about me though is that I've seen that movie so many times that I could almost quote it start to finish - not quite as bad as the mummy or returns since i can quote them without turning on the TV. Anyway, I haven't seen the first one in literally years so it was awesome seeing it on the big screen. The 3D was super cool, made all the effects even bigger.

Though I was surprised cause there was barely anyone in the theater.

Oh well, more for me.

Stoked for the second one.

He is not.

He says it's the "romantic one".

Just for that I'll make him watch it on Valentine's.

We discussed that as well. What are you expected to do on Valentine's if you've just started dating? We'll figure it out.

Apparently it's my job to come up with something. We're both so horribly indecisive that it's almost a battle.

Fine.

I'll think of something.

I guess I owe him anyway.

He kills spiders for me.

Which is ridiculous.

Apparently the second I get a boyfriend I turn into a total girl.

As I was cleaning I ran into a spider's nest thing and I didn't want to like grab it and anger them. Then I was gonna vacuum it, but my vacuum isn't very good and I didn't want to wake up to a bunch of ticked off spiders.

So he got rid of it.

My hero.

Now it's time for some more Chuck.

Though I'm tempted to turn on SW Episode 2 - cause you know you have to watch them in order. One New Years or Christmas or whatever the heck it was, I'm pretty sure it was New Years, P Squared and I watched all of them (that were out), but this is back when the second was just released in the theaters. We started with 4 then 5 then 6 and started over with 1 and saw 2 in the theater. It rocked.

We usually stick with series on New Years. Bourne. Pirates. Hot in Cleveland.

Where was I? Oh right, Chuck. Yeah, I'm mid-season two which of course is when all my DVD holds are coming in at work - cause everything arrives at one time. That's what you learn, even if you put holds on completely different items at completely different times. They will all come in at once.

Chuck.

Right.

So yeah, heading back to Chuck for the night. Long day tomorrow.

Today was actually pretty good. Though I've learned that during class I seem to understand everything, but the second I get to my apartment and start the homework it's like wait what? Why was that a 0 and not a 1 again?

Apparently, cataloging is a lot like scrapbooking.

Or that's what the boyfriend says jokingly.

No.

Cataloging is nothing like scrapbooking.

And it has absolutely nothing to do with scrapbooking.

Cataloging is data and code and patterns. Scrapbooking is fancy paper with pictures and graphics. Scrapbooking is much prettier than the string of code you have to plug in to create an entry in a catalog.

Though I'm sure to some people that's beautiful as well.

Not me.

But perhaps one day I'll get there.

When I do, someone please cut me off.

"Give Me One Reason" Tracy Chapman

it appears to be a night of old favorites. though this one has yet to leave my system. right up there with aaliyah's "are you that somebody" and almost anything from RENT.


Alright, Carter and I are out for the night. Have a good one.

"and there ain't no more to say"

"Why are there stuffed animals in the bathtub?"

Weirder questions have been asked during our family gatherings.

And, today, that was on the low scale on a weird-phrase-o-meter.

See, Second Sister just realized that she has a talk to text function on her cellphone, like mine. So we had a lot of fun saying stuff and seeing what it translated as then sending it back and forth while playing pinochle.

There were a lot of good ones.

"My brother is a lubener"
turned into
"My brother is a big blue banner."

"I bought a troll, I bought a troll for you."
became
"I'm bothered troll I'm not a trophy for you."

"How do you like the spatula?"
translated as
"How do you like hell?"

to which I replied
"It's purple and pretty."
but it thought I said
"Parboiling."

What the crap is parboiling?

We had to google that one.

"Ariel pajamas" became "I am the gym"
"Luke-a-Boogie the San Francisco Treat" became "Love you do g San Francisco tea"
"Brave the cream cheese, brave the cream cheese" became "Brava cream cheese brain cream cheese."

Though my favorite was when Second Sister said, "My husband is a stud."and the phone thought she said, "My husband is a big fat ass in here."to be fair, there were people talking in the background for that one.

and my new phrase wasn't even technology-related. Second Sister passed the table and said, "oh peanutbutter balls" like negative, like a put down or something. i like it. i'm going to say it randomly.

Okay, so I had this Xmas list going, that I kept forgetting to post. Since today was our Christmas I'll give it to you now.

Things I want from Santa

1. Endless supply of Diet Dr. Pepper - target did have a supply of 24 packs, i was SHOCKED! hope they keep that up
2. A litter box that cleans itself - keep dreaming
3. Leverage DVD's - GOT THEM! currently watching Elliot kick some butt.
4. A wireless printer/scanner - Woohoo! Gold!
5. Thor on DVD - sister-in-law rocked that one
6. Fun t-shirts - got a few, stoked, but probably shouldn't wear these ones to work, even with a shirt over the top.

and now I can move directly onto the

New Years Resolution List

1. Be more health-conscious - doesn't everyone say that? like workout more? eat healthier? it's cliche, but in a good way. and it needs to start now.
2. Write more - this actually i can do, since i'm deep into the whole apartment story thing mentioned here: My Life in Closed Captions: Troll the ancient yuletide, Carol!
3. Continue getting my degree - see, right now it's cake just taking one class but in the fall i'm gonna get wooped taking three at once plus working 40 hours.

and that's all I got. keeping it short. if there's less of them then there's less chance i'll give up on them.

and that's another thing, if you totally fail on like the first day, does that mean you have to keep it up for the rest of the year?

As for New Years Eve, hung out with one half of P Squared. We hit up a comedy show - "I have the IQ of a cheese sandwich!" "Dropped the whom-bomb on me" - it was fantastic, possibly a new tradition, then played some SSX Tricky and fell asleep watching Hot in Cleveland. cause who doesn't love Betty White?

Music Rec: Aaannd you thought we were done! HA!

one last entry in the Christmas Music that Doesn't Suck category

"Another Christmas Song" Stephen Colbert

i like it, really this is like the second original christmas song i've run into. everything else is just a remake of something from the past.

Sleeping in, prime rib, Apples to Apples, presents, pinochle, family, frivolity = Awesome Christmas.

OUT!

"public to whom i'm so proud to have pandered, please save my family and make this a standard"

Wake me up before you go-go

It was a day for reunions.

A few old friends came to the farmhouse today - my new years crew - and we played a lot of Dance Dance Revolution, watched some Hot In Cleveland, ate some good food, and laughed about old times. It was fun seeing them again.

But now I either really suck at DDR or I need new mats.

I'm gonna go with the second one.

Cause it wasn't a pretty sight.

And even though there was a lot of old things I also learned some new things today as well such as:
-You CAN play Simpson's Road Rage with a DDR mat, I just don't recommend it. It's a little hard to steer when you have to keep your foot on the X button while trying to go left and right with the arrows. See, these are the friends that have literally known me forever so they're used to my forgetfulness. Totally forgot the regular controllers which does't matter for DDR but it does make other games a heck of a lot easier.
-There are a serious amount of episodes on one disc of Hot In Cleveland. I thought there would be like 4 there's actually like 10. Which I should know because it's mine.
-There's a show called "Big Shrimping" on the History Channel cause my dad made me watch before I could leave. It's a lot like Swamp People but it's with shrimp instead of alligators. Not as cool. But I also watched an entire season of Red Green with him this weekend and enjoyed it so not all of his shows are bad.
-Also, NCIS LA isn't so bad. I didn't like it as much as the original so I stopped watching but Deeks is fantastic, I like him so I might start that up again. Just what I need, another show in my lineup. My DVR is full as it is now!
-Carter will jump a barricade to be in the room that I am in. Cause he loves me and he's cute. But he chews on trees and would go all Catzilla! on the snow village so he gets sectioned off when he's upstairs. So he jumped the table blocking the door. He's a mama's boy. And spoiled rotten, though he stayed at the farm cause I'm just going back next weekend.

It was an awesome vacation, a little sad it's over but Christmas is still not past for our family as we're not having ours until the 1st. Huzzah!

And now for some reunion music.

In honor of my Warped friends, yes these are the Denver Warped Tour friends mentioned in multiple posts but mostly here: My Life in Closed Captions: New Shoes, the Cheese Speech, Warped Tour and MXPX... I give you some Gogol Bordello. Cause this song never gets old. We saw them live at Warped and it was so different from every other act, they really are gypsy punks. I really need to upload the pictures. Will work on that over New Years.

"Start Wearing Purple" Gogol Bordello


and now for my other reunion, amusing when you're planning to meet for half an hour and end up talking for 3 hours. this may actually work.

"Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" Wham

nice short shorts.

OUT!