Special Occasion Foundation

So....it was the boyfriend's birthday a few weeks ago and now I can finally ramble to you about what I got him.

Let me start from the beginning.

The boyfriend is a train nut, and a few years ago he started collecting motorcars. I've posted a few entries about them already, you can find them here: Nothing says romance quite like riding motorcars in Iowa, We ain't got no room for boring, and Some people bring spare parts, Popper Boy brings spare cars.

Or just Google "Fairmont Motorcar" - there are plenty of images online.

He not only collects them but he goes on organized runs with them all over the country. That's where those posts have come from as I went with him on a few in Iowa.

He's not the only one that collects them, in fact he's got a buddy who lives here who also has quite the selection.

So one day earlier this year his buddy decided he was going to sell a few to make some money. The first one that sold was the boyfriend's favorite. Apparently it's rare and has Nebraska history since it was delivered here originally. He also helped him rebuild it so when it sold he was heartbroken.

And bitter.

So bitter in fact that that's all I heard about for 6 months straight.

His buddy sold it to a guy in Oklahoma. The only problem is that the Oklahoman didn't have a trailer or a way to transport it. After a few unsuccessful attempts to come and get it he gave up and put it up for sale.

Keep in mind that this whole time it's still sitting in the boyfriend's buddy's garage.

The day that it went back onto the market the boyfriend mentioned it was for sale again and how much he still wanted it but didn't have the money for it at that time. I asked him if it was worth what he was selling it for and he said it was to him.

So, while he was on the phone with someone else, I Googled his buddy's number, called him and told him I was interested. He then put me in touch with the Oklahoman. The next day we worked out a deal and he said to send him a cashier's check.

Here's where all the work began.

I don't know about you all, but I've never dealt with cashier's checks at all so I had no idea what I was doing.

And what do you do when you have no idea what you're doing? You go to your mother cause she seems to know all.

Or at least that's what I did and luckily she did know what to do. We went to the bank, told the clerk the story, and she hooked me up with a cashier's check which I mailed to the Oklahoman.

After which I called the boyfriend's buddy and he said he would store it for me until December. A few days later I got a confirmation call from the Oklahoman saying he had received the check and it was officially mine.

Now the question was how do we keep this a secret? When I contacted the Oklahoman I told him who I was buying it for. He said that if anyone by that name called he would play dumb. Then I talked to the boyfriend's buddy who said that he would "let it slip" that the Oklahoman decided to sell it to a friend of his who would be out to pick it up in the spring. That way if the boyfriend saw that it was still in his garage he would have an excuse.

This is all fine and dandy but you have to remember that he was very passionate about this car AND it was only October with his birthday not 'til December.

When he learned it was sold he was heartbroken yet again, fearing someone would tear it apart, paint it the wrong color and all that. He was so passionate about it that he got mad at the Oklahoman who was (unbeknownst to me) supposed to call him if someone attempted to buy it. So that was kind of my fault. And since he was so passionate I got to hear all about it. Which was fun, as long as I could keep a straight face.

Two and a half months of straight faces - do you know how hard that is when you're this excited about something?

So fast forward a bit to the beginning of December. After playing phone tag for a few days I finally went over to the buddy's house to see the motorcar. He told me a bit of the history of it and asked if I wanted the key. Me, being the idiot that I am, assumed it would be you know like a normal key. No.

See that big black thing?


























That's the key. Well, safety starter.

He also gave me the paperwork to wrap up. Just by the way, paperwork is a lot easier to wrap than a giant key. That took three of us. I should have taken pictures, it was hilarious.

Meanwhile the boyfriend is trying to figure out what to get me for Christmas and wants to know how much I spent on his gift. (This was his birthday/Christmas gift since they're so close together.) As it was a very specific number I couldn't tell him cause he'd know so I became quite secretive. That made him more curious and he started constantly guessing what it was. Luckily he was always way off...until the morning of his birthday.

Up until then I had him convinced it was a trip cause every time he would ask if it was one I would change the subject. I got some family to help out too - at Thanksgiving Oldest Sister said something to the effect of "shouldn't you have asked him about vacation time before planning something like that?" Thanks for that by the way.

But, for some reason, the morning of his birthday he guessed it. So I lied. Cause I wanted it to be a surprise.

Though, as his mother pointed out, he lied last year about Vegas so I don't feel so bad.

Then he thought it was something from the model train shop and I just let him think he was right. Cause I wanted it to be a surprise.

Flash forward to after work, he and his family were coming up to eat out for his birthday. With the key and paperwork in my car, I was driving around to find parking when I got a call saying to park in a specific parking garage. He was already there so he got to carry the key in - of course to him it was just a giant box. Not really heavy, just awkward to transport.

After the meal - Cajun food, I had catfish - he got to open his presents. We saved mine for last. Here's his reaction. Sorry it's sideways.

The answer to her question is ME! He sold it to me!

Glad I taped it. I've watched it quite a few times.

He was very excited about it and immediately went into total sweetheart mode, taking me out for lunch the next day, then a movie that weekend, then coming up to visit me on a Sunday even though he had like 4 hours of sleep in 48 hours.

His response was to get me an ipod for Christmas. And not just an iPod, a 64 gig iPod cause my 32 gig is out of space. And old. And skips. And doesn't work with most apps. For those of you that know me you know how excited I was about the 64 since I have my iPod on me at all times. Also with the iPod he got me a bluetooth hookup for my car so that I can listen to it and also make handsfree calls. I was stoked. No more wires to mess with and all that. He even said he'd install it. So lucky to have a mechanic for a boyfriend. Changes my oil, fixes broken things and installs new fancy stuff. Very exciting.

He gave me that on Christmas Eve - that's when their family does Christmas. I had to work until 1 but went out there in the afternoon. They were playing Star Wars Monopoly by the time I got there and were getting pretty into it. It was entertaining to watch.

Christmas Eve is pretty relaxed with their family. They hang out all day, go to church, then eat supper and open presents. I got some other cool stuff from his family. They know how much I love Star Wars so I got a giant Yoda stuffed animal, an R2D2 candy jar, and then also some Husker stuff and a Fitbit which I'm wearing right now. Loving it. For those of you who don't know a Fitbit is something you wear around your wrist and it keeps track of how much you walk, how much you sleep, and the app helps you keep track of calories and all that.

Which is helpful because I'm about to make an even bigger lifestyle change.

Every year I say that one of my resolutions is to be healthier and then a week in I give up on it. This year is different. I have a game plan and support to go with it (see previous entries about our Hot Babes Getting Hotter weight loss plan). This week I cleaned out my fridge and cupboards getting rid of all the junk and filled it with newer and healthier options. Similar to how I gave up pop - I just took it away and didn't make it an option which made it much easier. I've also started packing my lunch with this new food. Gives me a chance to use my Slytherin lunch box from Christmas like 5 years ago.

Lost two pounds already. May not seem like a lot but it's only been a few days.

This lifestyle change is coming quickly after yet another one from about a month ago.

The boyfriend mentioned something about how I look nice in makeup and how maybe I should do that more often. When I mentioned it to my sisters the oldest responded with "if the guy that has to stare at you for the rest of your life says put on some makeup then put on some damn makeup" or something to that effect. Though she's been on me about it for years so I'm sure she was delighted.

So makeup wearing led to new clothes shopping which both of my sisters were happy to take part in. We hit up the Buckle, Dress Barn, and Famous Footwear for clothes and shoes. I came out with some new jeans, shirts, and two pairs of boots.

The people at work of course noticed right away, and ever since I've had many makeup/clothing conversations with my female coworkers. My favorite was with the New Girl and one of my new trainees. They were talking about foundation and one of them says she has some fancy stuff that she only pulls out on special occasions so we started calling it her Special Occasion Foundation. It was highly entertaining.


Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself, let's back up a bit back to Christmas. So Christmas morning I did with my parents. I got them a lot of stuff this year - especially Mom - cause they always give a lot of stuff. But they only got half of the stuff cause we saved most of our stuff for our family Christmas on New Years. After Christmas morning with them I went to the boyfriend's extended family Christmas where we ate, watched TV and played Rummy. First time for everything, and it was actually quite fun. Then that night the boyfriend and I went out to my parents and ate supper with them. Then we watched some holiday movies like Home Alone and Christmas with the Kranks.

Along with the original/animated version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas I think Home Alone is probably my favorite holiday movie. It's a classic, both funny and entertaining. When I was young and would watch it my dad would make me pause it and come get him when it came to the breaking in/pranks scene toward the end. That's probably the best part.

So that was Christmas, let's skip to New Years Eve. I don't know about you but to me New Years Eve seemed a lot more exciting when I was younger compared to now. Every year for like 15 years I would do the same thing. Hang out with P Squared watching all the countdown music shows, playing Dance Dance Revolution and cards, running around the house at midnight while drinking sparkling cider and then watching movies before crashing on the floor. Now it's like I feel so old because I don't know half of the bands that are playing.

Or I don't like half the bands that are playing.

For the past couple years the boyfriend and I have done the same thing. Stayed at home and were disappointed by the music - although this year we did watch The Lego Movie which was highly entertaining.

Gonna have to come up with a different game plan for next year cause I'm doubtful the music thing is gonna change.

Must just come with getting older, most of the bands are aimed at teens not adults.

So that was New Years Eve, after midnight I headed out to the farmhouse and stayed over so I was there for our family Christmas the next day.

Christmas was fun. The family got there around 12:30ish. We ate prime rib, potatoes, desert and all that then opened presents. I got some cool stuff - Firefly Clue (i love that show, now have to find other fans to play with me), a couple of Husker hats, some new dishes, pajamas and of course a straightener from my sister. Remember the lifestyle change mentioned above? Apparently a straightener is necessary to complete it. We'll see about that.

The boyfriend got a lot of tools plus a signed hockey jersey courtesy of my parents (via me).

After food and presents there was a lot of football. Then napping and more food. Then more napping. Then more football. The boyfriend slept for a bit cause he was going into work that night.

All-in-all it was a good holiday season.


Immediately after the holiday season is our anniversary on the 2nd. 3 years. Doesn't feel like it was that long ago, but apparently it was. To celebrate we went to a hockey game where we won 3-2, then we watched some Forensic Files which has become our go-to show. Have you seen it? It's addicting. The hockey game was exciting enough, I don't think I've seen that many brawls in a single game ever. Tons of fighting and lots of penalties. It's like they knew it was a special occasion.

Or it's cause we were suppose to "turn a corner" after the holiday break and start winning games.

And speaking of winning games we played a hell of a game last night against our rivals and won it in overtime! It was huge game - not only because of they're our rivals but also because they were on a 9 game win streak. This was another one filled with brawls and by the end there were a lot of guys sidelined either in the penalty box or thrown out. Luckily a lot were able to come back for overtime. It was tied 2-2 for a while but then they went up 4-2. I thought we were toast but we scored and then we scored again with 2 minutes remaining. The guy that scored that one was playing his first game with us - he also had an assist - so pretty good for a new guy. Glad we acquired him.

Then for overtime we put in who I like to call either the 3 Musketeers or the 3 Amigos - Hoff, Gillespie, and Jozefek (who's my favorite). These guys can score when they're put together, honestly it's crazy how many times the three of them work together for goals. Hoff was able to shoot one passed the goalie and we took the victory. It was epic. I tweeted about it and it got favorited by all 3 Musketeers/Amigos and the general manager.

I love hockey, you meet the most interesting people while watching it. On one side you've got the drunken frat boys, on the other a redneck and behind us we have some awesome commentators and an archaeologist.

In Nebraska.

I made a friend. Ran into her in Walgreens and we started talking. Mostly about hockey. We ended up moving and sitting next to her during the game because it was packed and behind us it was empty. After the game we talked some more and now we're gonna do lunch. Turns out she works just a block over. Should be fun.


And last but not least....remember that whole patron having a stroke in the library thing? If not go here: I would shoulder a 12-year-old for you, that's love.

And then after that how Superwoman nominated me for a Customer Service Award? Go here: Hot babes getting hotter: You'll see less of us soon.

Well, turns out she nominated me for something else. A Mayor's Award of Excellence. And I got it.

Just have to meet the mayor and city council and not make a fool out of myself - no pressure.

Plus I'm horrified of public speaking and I guess I'm supposed to possibly say something in front of them. I think I have an idea of what to say, now it's just memorizing it and running through it over and over so I don't completely freeze and make a fool out of myself.

No pressure.



On to a Scale of Awesome's:

Serial

That's right, my first Scale of Awesome for a podcast. I actually learned about this from the parody skit on SNL. So I listened to all 12 episodes over the New Year's weekend (aka our family Christmas). It worked well because I did a crapton of driving so there was plenty of time to listen. I got so caught up in it that I was listening to it before I went to bed at night and then again in the morning when I woke up. My only thing against it was that it didn't really have the ending that I was looking for. I wanted to know if he was guilty or innocent and she didn't have an answer to that. Maybe they'll cover it in the second season which starts up soon. Scale of Awesome says 8/10.


Night at the Museum 3

Scale of Awesome says 8/10. I thought it was pretty good - very funny and since I'm an ancient Egypt nut I loved that aspect. Sad to see Robin Williams in it though knowing he's not around anymore.


Unbroken

Good movie but super long. Or at least it felt that way. Scale of Awesome says 7/10.


Tropic Thunder

If it wasn't for Robert Downey Jr. this movie would be awful. Fortunately he was in it and was fantastic so I'm giving it a 7/10.


The Departed


I think I watched this one a while ago with Mom back when we had Netflix but I don't remember anything about it. The one thing I will say about it now is it's long. Like you think it's about to be over and then it's not. And then it's still not. And then it's 2 hours later and he has to go to work so we have to finish it next time. It was okay I guess. I mean I like the people in it - Leo, Matt Damon, Marky Mark and Jack of course. I'd say 5/10 maybe?



And on to the music.

Dedication To My Ex - Lloyd


loving this song, very catchy. yes that's wayne brady.


Wasted Love - Matt McAndrew


was very surprised he didn't pull off the win, but craig was good too.

"It's alphabetical." "What from W to boobs?"

Okay so first off, just gonna throw this out there.

Never leave two little boys alone in a room with a remote and a TV they don't know how to navigate.

They will attempt to buy things that make my brother and I go "oh my god!" and run toward the TV.

We had football on in both rooms and I guess they wanted to watch wrestling instead so they attempted to change the channel and ended up at "Are you sure you want to purchase Boobalicious for $10.95?"

I don't think I've seen my brother move that fast in a long time.

So that pretty much sums up my day: Mass Hysteria.

Set my alarm for 9 but slept in until 10:30.

I was gonna be all good and like get up early and watch the parade and all that but by the time my alarm went off - I went to bed around 2 cause of New Years - I was like screw that so I went back to sleep.

But I did get up in time to watch the Husker game.

And HOLY CRAP that was also madness. Domination, I was so proud, especially that last quarter for defense. Though the endzone to endzone touchdown was pretty cool too.



Actually our favorite part of that touchdown was the guy in the raincoat at the very end.

Yeah. Stare dumbly. That's right.

Anyway, the family - boyfriend included - showed up around halftime. We watched a bit more of the game, ate lunch, and then opened our presents (while having the game on in the background).

I officially passed the passing out baton on to Squirt this year so I got to sit sidelines and get presents instead of handing them out.

Glad to be done.

It's not bad it's just you have 6 kids running at you constantly looking for presents or wanting to take presents to people and there's a system, you have to have piles so that everyone gets one at the same time instead of like 5 for one person and then on to other people, you know?

Anyway, she did good and I enjoyed sitting and being able to watch the game.

Especially cause we were winning.

Got some cool stuff too. Red 2, Burn Notice final season, some books, clothes, cash, a robot vacuum, AND THAT DAMN DANCING BABY.

I know!! I just got rid of that thing, she totally fooled me.

Now I have it for another year!

And it came in the best box too, it was one of those prank boxes that advertises it as something totally weird and then you open it and it's something totally different. Anyway, this box was for a coffee showerhead so that you could take a shower and drink coffee at the same time.

BTW you did read that right, a robot vacuum.

I'm stoked, just have to figure out how to work it. Carter's gonna hate it. Will probably squash it while I'm not around.

After the presents we jammed out for a while watching football, playing pitch and spoons, stole remotes back from tiny children, ate prime rib for supper and all that.

It was fun.

Especially the part when my brother started freaking out about the boyfriend and I getting married in Vegas.

Which was my fault, cause we were joking about it and then he got all paranoid.

See, when they're all in Vegas and we say we want to get married they're all for it. But now that they wouldn't be there with us it's totally different.

And his mother did finally give in to our destination wedding ideas.

Which I want in writing.

Not that we're having one.

But it's nice to have the option.

What else did we joke about? Oh trivia night is coming up.

We're thinking this year's theme should be Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs.

With my brother-in-law as Snow White - cause he's tall - and the rest of us as the dwarfs.

It's down to that or Ninja Turtles.

Cause wouldn't that be awesome too?

Today was awesome though.

Carrying everything up the stairs to my apartment was not so fun, but it's done now so it's worth it.

Well, the stuff I brought back with me that is. There's still that giant coffee maker at the farmhouse from Christmas along with some various other things that hopefully Mom will bring up at some point when she comes to visit Grams.

So I'm calling today a success, even though it was filled with much hysteria I am not back to relaxing with my big fat cat.

Tomorrow is back at work so I will soon crash but before that here's some of my favorite music from 2013 plus the song of the day.


Christmas Can Can - Straight No Chaser


that's right, you knew i had to post it at some point.


Alright, here are a couple of my favorites from 2013.

Counting Stars - OneRepublic


Royals - Lorde


more to come this week.

hope you all are rocking the new year away.

Speaking of New Years, did you do anything fun? The boyfriend and I went out to dinner then had a lazy night in watching movies and then musicians we'd never heard of but are apparently popular enough to make national TV.

But I don't listen to the radio so perhaps they are that popular.

Any new resolutions?

Mine for this year are to eat healthier, exercise more and start flossing more than just the month before I go to see the dentist.

I know, boring, but maybe as the year goes on I'll add more.

Legit pre-midnight post, holy crap tag in use.

Crazy Horse, kinda like Mad Cow.

Oh where to start...

Yesterday was New Year's Eve. Slept in a bit, ate lunch with Mom and Dad and then Mom said that I should test out my new vacuum - just to make sure it works - by cleaning her carpets.

See how that works?

After that headed to pick up the boyfriend and then on to Oldest Sister's place for crab legs and entertainment.

Squirt's boyfriend was there and made it through the night unscathed so that says something about his character.

Made it through endless rounds of Apples to Apples and the combination of all of our snarkiness.

Quote of the day:
-"Crazy Horse. Kinda like Mad Cow." - Second Sister

We played for at least an hour, maybe two. I dominated. Had a lot of practice over the last few days though when they wanted to play tonight I was all Appled out so I watched the game with the boyfriend instead.

Anyway, the crablegs were awesome, Apples to Apples was awesome as were the musical stylings of Karmin and Neon Trees.

Notice how I left out Bieber.

Still have yet to catch the fever.

Don't hold your breath I don't think it'll come on anytime soon.

Stayed there passed midnight, the boyfriend claims he didn't fall asleep but I think otherwise as I had to wake him up as the ball dropped.

Today was totally different. Got to the farm around 11:15. Since the game was at noon we had to work around it but it seemed to work out okay. Got Mom Scandal season one and an immersion blender, amongst other things. Gave Dad a box full of mail with his and name but my address on it. King of Useless Knowledge his usual coffee, Oldest Sister whole collection of James Bond on blu ray. Brother got Black Ops video game, Favorite Sister-in-Law the Karmin CD, Second Sister some books and a fancy martini glass. Got Bubby a robot and a time capsule, Squirt got socks, Yoda slippers, a journal, chapstick and a Buckle giftcard. Younger ones I got a lot of toys, stuffed animals, dolls, legos, Skylander stuff, and all that.

Some kids got more than others but with them it's all about quantity over quality. And I'm not sure they noticed cause they didn't really say anything, but I still feel like I should have gotten more for a couple of the girls.

I've noticed when you know exactly what they want that's what you get them, however if you're not sure about someone you get them a lot hoping they'l like at least a few that you got.

But I still feel so bad, you know?

Okay, just need to move on.

Cause this is just making it worse.

I got some good stuff. Luggage, pillows, clothes, snacks, games, purple spoon cause Second Sister likes to get me purple stuff, amongst other things.

Watched the Husker game in the middle of the presents hysteria. I knew we wouldn't win but at least we kept up with them for a while.

Had to wear my Burkhead jersey since it was his last game.

Ate lunch, watched more football, ate some more, that's about it.

Now Carter and I are back at the apartment though my voice is almost completely gone. Tomorrow should be fun since I'm training a volunteer in the morning at work.

Carter was not pleased to come back to the apartment. He sat by the door for a while once we got back and stared at me as if to say, "take me back. you will do it and you will do it. now." The car ride back was ridiculous. Every other second he was yelling. He really likes the farm. Even if he spent most of his time there in the basement.

But he loves the basement cause he can climb in the ceiling cause there's a hole. No idea what he does up there, just as long as he doesn't come down with a dead rodent I think we're okay.

Alright, I really should crash. Had an awesome time with the family and the boyfriend.

Tomorrow is a big day.

Like big big day as it will be our first anniversary.

But tomorrow will be like his Monday since he had to go into work and he's been on normal people hours through his vacation so I told him I wouldn't be offended if he chose to sleep instead.

I'm gonna sleep right now, but first.

Okay, now I am officially out of christmas music.

The Christmas Can-Can - Straight No Chaser


tune in this week for some of my favorites from 2012.

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.

"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"

"I'm gonna need some bail money."

Okay. So I got a speeding ticket. Yes, I'm aware. But, now, apparently, everyone else is as well. But as least I called and told them about it after it happened. It could have been worse. I wasn't calling from behind bars or something. My one phone call. Asking for bail money. Thanks for that Second Sister. The lot of you really. You're all so supportive. The second I walk through the door. Seriously.

So, Thanksgiving. A time for food, family, and sarcasm galore. There wasn't as much this year since there was no Apples to Apples involved. There was however a lot of card playing.

Some really really and let me add another really bad pinochle playing on my part. Joe sat by me trying to pick up the game and I had to say, "Well, here's how you lose." But, just to say, we were 87 in the hole at one point and still finished with a positive 40 something. So that could have been worse as well. Got a double marriage and a double pinochle and a run in one hand and I think we scored about 80 on that one alone. But that was my only good hand the whole night.

I did win one game though, when I was paired with Dad. Which is weird, I mean it's not cause he's good, but Teina and I usually rock when we're paired up. But that was a while ago when we were last paired. This year we got owned. On multiple occasions. But crappy cards man. Geez. One good hand means getting set every other one. Yikes. I should have just stopped bidding altogether.

I haven't played that game in literally years. Which is weird, because we use to play it all the time and I mean all the time. We never played pitch. It was always pinochle. But when we're with extended family it's pitch because it's easier. And faster.

Other than card playing there was a lot of food, yes, but there was also a mass amount of laziness. About an hour of sitting on the couch, watching Suh get thrown out, smooth move dude, and going through the ads. It was funny cause we were out in the living room on the awesome new furniture, Sarah on the end, then Cindy then Mandy, Me then Teina and Mark on the floor and we would just pass the ads down the couch basically. All with paper and pens coming up with Christmas lists.

Second Sister wants me to get her one of those emergency tool things so if your car goes under water you can slice your seatbelt and hammer your way out of your window. Cause apparently you're trapped. They saw it on Mythbusters. And she drives over mass amounts of water daily. Not. But she's pregnant and hormonal so I shall do as she asks.

And they always ask if we're doing a big Christmas, aka are we buying presents for the siblings? And I do. Cause I like Christmas. They don't have to buy lots of stuff if they don't want to, but I'm going to. Cause I like it. and I have this awesome catalog of random stuff - similar to a Sky Mall if you've flown and browsed through that - and yeah, there's gonna be a lot of random gifts this year. I'm thinking Everts Christmas gag gift stuff. Primo collector edition.

And of course, everything I was repulsed with I talked about and they all claimed they were going to buy it for me. But really, why would you need a fake plastic person who's actually a tape dispenser but is sitting on a toilet with a pen in his mouth and paper clips coming out of his butt? Is that repulsive to anyone else? Who wants that sitting on their desk? Seriously. I'm gonna have to find a picture of that, cause I really can't describe it any better than that. I'd rather just have a coffee cup filled with pens and tape.

Here, go here: Creepy Plastic Person

It freaked me out.

Even more than the 100 dollar bill toilet paper. It doesn't cost 100 dollars, it's an actual (fake) 100 dollar bill on a roll.

or the kind that glows in the dark. WHY?!

Good god.

I did, however, find something fantastic for The Cool Aunt. which I guess I can't mention cause she reads this. So she'll just have to be excited for things that fly. and that's all I'm saying.

Speaking of Everts Family Christmas. We have this baby. It's plastic. and Ugly. and Dances. Supposedly. But it's still in the box so really it only sways side-to-side and it's been a gag gift for years. Literally. and it just keeps getting passed back and forth. and I have a problem. Because I'm pretty sure that I have it. and that means I have to find it. So it's either in the boxes in my apartment, or the boxes in my closet here at the farmhouse. or in the abyss that's the basement. Hmmm... I'll check tomorrow.

Okay, so other than cards, trail mix, ads, football, napping, mass amounts of food, drinking chocolate wine, and watching children run wild, there was a lot of talking. and some good quotes. Though there are really none of them that I can repeat. Other than the ones I've already explained.

I did enjoy our 20 minute conversation about the Dougie dance. If you have no idea to what I'm referring to skip to the bottom and watch the video. We want to change it to "Teach me how to Teina". We watched the video and she said she does most of the moves so we could change the name and add a few more moves. and Mark can do the cabbage patch in the background.

Alright. Music Rec's I think we're to the E's.

And due to good timing you get a family classic:

"Evil Woman" Electric Light Orchestra

used to dance and sing this when i was little tiny. and we taught it to Squirt and Bubby when they were little tiny.
"there's an open road that leads no where, so just make some miles between here and there"
hahahahaha, oh my god. one of the comments on the youtube page is a dedication.
"I'd like to dedicate this song to my ex, Sheila.
Sheila, if you are reading this, rot in hell.
Love, Mark
:D
"
fantastic.

"Everywhere" Michelle Branch

a big one from college. good god she looks young.
yes i know this is the second one of hers i've used for the alphabet rec's and we're only to the E's but get used to it, cause she rocks. and technically that was The Wreckers. just cause she's one of the lead singers in the band...


as mentioned above:

"Teach Me How To Dougie" Cali Swag District



Big day tomorrow. New phone on the morning, means I had to go through my current phone tonight typing up all my notes cause they won't save to my media card. Do you know how long it takes to type up 479 notes? I skipped half. Didn't even upload any of the dream log. Cause dude. That's soooo much more. But the pictures and ringtones and all that are good to go. I'm hoping they'd just be able to transfer all that stuff - like contact numbers and stuff - to the new phone but I'm guessing it doesn't work with the notes. Hence the typing.

I did find a few more life mottos that I forgot to mention in the One Year post.

-"One minute I'm sane, the next two I'm crazy" think that came from a dream
-"Put it in the microwave and pour it over chips" that's a Magic Bullet direct quote but I like to use it out of context, it's more fun that way
-"It's a worthless guide to an epic ride" which is kind of a disclaimer to this blog
-"We won't judge you. We may slow clap you, but we won't judge you." camp quote, that was one of mine when we went bowling, works well in life events

Okay, will consider transferring more depending on how tired I am after this post.

After the new phone tomorrow is the Huskers game. First annual Heroes Game, trophy included. It's a "revivalry" really. I enjoy that word.

And then I get to set up the trees - yes I did buy them a new one and I'm stoked - and decorate the house. My favorite thing to do for Xmas, aside from the whole Xmas day proceedings. It's cool to have all the lights up and all that. I'm excited.

So, big day. I'm out.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Lutherans in the Outfield

Emotional Rollercoaster.

Battle of the Lutherans Take Two. We dominated.

AND, apparently it's possible to be both cursed and play good defense as I caught three pop flies, but got out every freaking time I went up to bat.

But we won! For the first time...ever! We've officially beaten every team and it's awesome!

Or it was awesome, until we played with E-Free and my defensive skills completely disappeared. I was, however, able to bat, it was backward. Well, normal actually. Usually that's how it is.

But they were super short on people tonight so my brother and sister-in-law stayed to play with them as well. And, we were all in the outfield with Nic, so it was literally Lutherans in the Outfield. Awesomeness. We're mercenaries, get used to it.

Oh well, it was a fun game. And they brought us hot apple cider. We jammed after the game, shook everybodies hand, talked about icecream, I got asked out, talked some more about icecream, joked around with the Pastor, then Nic and me went for ice cream...

Yeah, you read that right.

Although I said no. As I don't go out there all that often anymore.

Plus it's doomed from the start as he is not Catholic.

Neither am I, but that's not the point.

I'm destined to marry a Catholic. It's KFC. Kimbrough Family Clan tradition.

All my siblings have married Catholics. And, at one point, have had two kids, two pets, big houses, the whole white picket fence and all that.

Oldest Sister married the first Catholic. They have two kids, two cats and a dog. I'm not counting the dragon or the fish as they belong to the children. Yes, a dragon, it's a long story.

Big Brother married a Catholic, has three kids, and a dog.

Second Sister married a Catholic, has 2.5 kids, and two dogs.

Therefore, I'm destined to marry a Catholic, have at least 2.5 kids, and get another animal somewhere along the way. Although I don't know how Carter would take that. He is larger than most small dogs. Even though he's a cat. And currently sitting on my lap. He sleeps on me as well.

But who knows? Maybe I'll break the tradition. I am the odd one out in our family. Came 11 years after the other three. Went to private schools all my life while they went public. Getting my Master's - first public school experience ever along with working in a very public library.

Maybe I'll start my own traditions. Nah. At this point it's a nice excuse for when my mother asks me about guys. "Nope, wouldn't work. He's not Catholic." I'm sticking with it. Until I find one that's Catholic, then I'm screwed.

Quotes of the night:

"Are they glittens? or Mloves?"
sister-in-law has gloves inside mittens. she says they are mloves. i said they'd be glittens if it was church-league-cheerleading.

"Yeah, she's not an athlete. I see pom-poms in her future."
i died laughing at this point. e-free member talking about her children. cheerleading is not a sport. period.

All in all it was a good day. Shelved for three hours, watched some NCIS on Mom's DVR - although I was tempted to watch Swamp People. Dad even called me this week to tell me he had taped some new ones.

Aannnd got my wrapping paper for this year. Last year it was black, year before that it was Charlie Brown, year before that it was red and silver candycane stripes. This year I'm back with the silver but it's with blue. Stoked. I'm big on Christmas. And when they start putting the candycanes out on the shelves it pretty much takes over my life. But I love it. Because I love my family. And our crazy traditions. KFC included.

"Centerfield" John Fogerty


Softball gloves go back in the trunk in anticipation of next year, next to the camp stuff. According to Oldest Sister it's weird that I'm still not unpacked from a camp that took place in July. It's not like a lot, it's just some blankets and a pillow and then all the boardgames and a tent. And they stayed in my old car, why not Jarvis?

Alright, should probably crash and burn. Long day tomorrow.

OUT!

A Christmas Tree Nightmare

I put the trees up at the farmhouse today and gotta say wow. I've never wanted to burn something more in my life. The first tree, the one of awesomeness, is seriously a piece by piece thing. Every branch you have to put in individually. And even though it takes forever I love it. It's relaxing. I'm the only one who knows the order they go in. It's all red and gold and pretty.
The second tree...oh man. It's only three pieces, bottom, middle then top. It should take maybe 5 minutes to put up, right? No. Two hours and I finally had the thing standing up straight. By this time I was just plain ticked. It was bad. My secret plan is to take it out to the trash hole the day after Christmas, cover it in lighter fluid and light a match. Oh man. The problem is that the bottom thing that goes into the stand isn't like a pole. It's this triangle thing. Why would you make it a triangle? It's the base, it's supposed to be perpendicular to the floor so the thing can stand up straight. You'd think anyway. But no. Then you have to tighten the screws, there are three, and they have to be completely even or the tree is crooked. And they don't screw in easy, it takes pliers. Plus you're getting stabbed in the face by the branches because they're in the way. Then the branches all look weird because it's one of those that has the lights already on it. So the branches are all tied together and sticking in different directions. And of course none of the lights work anymore anyway. We've had the thing four years and I honestly don't remember them ever working. So I took a scissors to some of them, (sh, don't tell mom). Anyway, two hours later and it's up.
Then I have to decorate the stupid thing. And it's the cheesy tree - the one that gets all the childhood-art-class-made-ornaments, pictures of grandkids, random ornaments that make noise when plugged into the light sockets, toys and random objects with string on them but clearly not meant for a Christmas tree, silver tinsel and colored lights galore. But it works. So I distracted myself from the gag-worthiness with Rizzoli and Isles episodes I have DVR'd from earlier this year.
Now they are both up and have special things attached to the chord so all you have to do is hit a button and you can turn them on and off without even having to unplug anything. Hooray. I can sleep in peace. Or have another dream about my dad being murdered and mom and I being held hostage. So weird. It's been a banner day.