That's not coffee, that's diabetes on ice.

Because my last post was wildly depressing this time I'm going to post about a few of my favorite things.

One of them I'm still in shock about.

You have no idea.

Seven years in the making.

Guess what finally came out on DVD.

Yep.

Women's Murder Club.

I'm still going nuts.

Apparently my friends and I - yes, I was that big of a fan that I became friends with other fans online - are so stubborn and persistent that they're releasing it by demand.

Take that ABC. They cancelled it way too early.

The problem was that it aired during the writer's strike so it didn't even get a chance.

Well that and they got rid of the 2 creators halfway through the season and the storyline completely changed.

I still say without it Angie Harmon wouldn't be on Rizzoli and Isles. Where do you think they got the idea of her as a cop? Being a fan of both series' I notice so many similarities.

Alright, alright, I know you don't care so I'll shut up.

I'm just so excited. It first aired 10/12/07 so I'm marathoning it on 10/12/14.

Seven years in the making, I'm telling you. And it's still my favorite show. I've got the posters to prove it.

Plus all of Sketch's artwork scattered around my apartment.

This one's my favorite.



It's hanging on my door.

Oo, I should bring back the tattoo.

Check this out.



But I'd have to get Sketch to do it again cause I'd kill it.

This is what happens when you get bored and have an artist for a best friend.

I know. We were nerds, get over it. But I can't help it. It was an awesome show. Based off a book series by James Patterson - which I hope you knew already.

If not you do now.

I got the first few books in the series that year for Christmas and carried them around with me the entire holiday break.

Even after I finished them.

In like two days.

I remember specifically my siblings were staying over so I got stuck sleeping in my dad's office - which is way on the other side of the house - on this ridiculously uncomfortable couch. And I would sleep with a flashlight just so I could read the books.

And then re-read them. And then mark all my favorite parts.



With quote notes.

Yep. Nerd. But I'm okay with that. Even working in a library being surrounded by other books they're still my favorite series.

And yes I know I shelve them incorrectly but it's my shelf so take that.

I love them cause they're both funny and dramatic. While they're a bit different from the show they're also very similar.

And, because I'm watching the show - episode five. "Maybe Baby." Yes I can tell you that without looking, I'm gonna hit you with some quotes. Cause I can.

Here are a few of my favorite one-liners:

Thomas: "Did you know that the crime desk assignment came with a pepperspray keychain and a police scanner? It's like my new Tivo, I can't turn it off."

Boxer: "So you're leaving the beanie babies, the earring tree, and the butt master."
Bernhardt: "It was late at night, couldn't sleep, infomercial."
Washburn: "That's how I ended up with a Rotato."

Boxer: "Know anything about her personal life?"
Thomas: "She had one?"

Thomas: "You're gonna miss me when I stop coming around."
Boxer: "Give me a chance to find out."

Jacobi: *boxer talking to herself* "Do you need me for this conversation?"

Thomas: "Ohhh, defensive sarcasm, it went well."

Thomas: "Please don't give me the laser vision, it makes me really nervous."

Bernhardt: "Worst. Liar. Ever."

Washburn: "But why do something yourself when you can hand it over to a work-shy ill-mannered counterpart?"
Thomas: "Are we supposed to answer her?"
Boxer: "No, that's not necessary."

Bernhardt: "What'd you do, go to a biker bar?"
Thomas: "I went to seven. They're a little scary."

Thomas: "Right, I'll hang. Catch you on the B-Side."

Boxer: "Tell me you didn't drive this here."
Thomas: "Please, I drove Maggie, my little red car."
Boxer: "Then you sweet talked Officer Cho into letting you past the tape. Wait, your car has a name?"
Thomas: "Doesn't yours?"

Thomas: "I'll chat up the locals, see if there's anything more interesting for sale here at the house of lamps lamps and more lamps." (i still quote that line when i drive by that lamp place on o street)

Thomas: "I hope I go in my sleep."
Bernhardt: "I hope I go out on top of Clive Owen. You die your way, I'll die mine."

Washburn: "If you're strong and push through the pain and the fear, you often find that happiness is waiting for you on the other side."
Bernhardt: "And if you're not strong enough?"
Washburn: "Then that is what your friends are for. To give you a gentle push or a kick in the ass..."

Thomas: "I'm a pancake."
Boxer: "Good pancake."

I'm letting you off easy, there are more. Those are just a few that came to mind immediately. So many memories...

I went back and looked through how many posts are about WMC. 22. Yep. I'm a nerd. Every year on the the premiere date and finale date it was mentioned. Go me.


And, because you're groaning by this point, on to favorite thing number two.

The Voice.

Yes, I heard that groan again.

The Blind Auditions are over so here is my top twenty.

Damien - Adam
James David Carter - Blake
Kelli Douglas - Adam
Anita Antoinette - Gwen
Luke Wade - Pharrell

Toia Jones - Pharrel
Maiya Sykes - Pharrel
Joe Kirk - Adam
Jessie Pitts - Gwen
Taylor Phelan - Pharrell

Chris Jamison - Adam
Mia Pfirrman - Adam
Fernanda Bosch - Blake
Beth Spangler - Adam
Matt McAndrew - Adam

Taylor John Williams - Gwen
Katriz Trinidad - Pharrell
Jean Kelley - Gwen
Troy Ritchie - Gwen
Taylor Brashears - Blake

Pharrell and Gwen are forces to be reckoned with, picking up some of the best ones this season, but I am still and will always be Team Adam. Mostly because I love him and Maroon 5, but also because for some reason he always gets the best singer in the bunch (minus cassadee pope who was team blake). Damien is that singer this year.

Blake's team seems to be a bit lacking when compared to previous years, the only real standouts are James David Carter - who I think will be his frontrunner - Fernanda Bosch and Taylor Brashears. But maybe that's a good thing, because sometimes when you have too many good ones you have to put them up against each other and then are forced to get rid of half. For him there would be no competition so nothing holding them back from making the live rounds.


Alright, enough of that. I know you don't care. On to favorite thing number three.

The Boyfriend. 

No these favorite things aren't in order, if they were he'd be number one. Don't worry. I'm not that big of a nerd.

I got him an epic birthday present this year.

Well it's more like birthday, Christmas, and anniversary. Cause it's big. And I'm proud. Oldest Sister says this tops the camera in Vegas story. Which is huge.

For those of you who don't know it already I lost my camera in Vegas, he went to Best Buy, bought me a new one, and then we went and re-took all of my pictures.

Every girl that I tell that too goes "awww." Cause he's sweet like that. And he deserves a big gift from me.

Last year I got him hockey season tickets so I had to top that.

This one is my ALL IN present. Whether he buys me a ring or not, I'm all in. And hopefully the present will convey that AND remain a secret if my family can contain themselves. Mom helped so of course now they all know.

On to favorite thing number four.

Hockey.

As you know the season has started up again and we are rocking it.

Okay not really, but we have won 2 out of our 5 games so that's not awful. I mean it's not good, but it's not awful. Better than our rivals who have only won one.

Take that Lancers.

Since I'm a huge USHL fan I've decided that I need to pick an NHL team. Especially now that I get more sports channels (i caved and got the big ten network for husker football and it came with a sports package).

After extensive research I've narrowed it down to the St. Louis Blues and the Chicago Blackhawks. Though I also like Colorado and Minnesota.

I'm leaning toward St. Louis because they have David Backes (who used to play for us) as their captain and they also have TJ Oshie who was huge at the Olympics. Plus geographically they're probably the closest team to me personally. Followed closely by Colorado.

But it's still up for debate. They did just smash the Flames last night - which I taped. It was highly enjoyable. However, not as good as the USHL, but perhaps that's the difference between watching it on TV and seeing it live.

Though I have a feeling it's gonna be like college vs. pro for me. I love college football but I'm not a huge fan of the NFL. I mean, I like the Titans, (not as much as I used to) but college is much more fun to watch.

I guess we shall see.


Favorite thing number five.

Husker Football.

So even with a huge fourth quarter comeback we lost to Michigan State. I didn't think we'd win but hoped we'd at least put up a fight. What happened offense? Normally I'm a fan of Tommy but did anyone else notice that we didn't score until they put Ryker in? Abdullah got stopped and it was like our offense couldn't function without him. Thank god for Westerkamp, otherwise that would have been bad. I mean, it was bad, but our defense was excellent so they kept it close. And speaking of that, excellent job defense. You seriously rocked it.

Now on to Northwestern which seems to be the unwritten rivalry. I know it's supposed to be Iowa but I feel like our hardest games in this conference have been with either Wisconsin or Northwestern. Both of which are away games this season and both could halt our no-more-losses mentality. Hopefully that doesn't happen and we play Michigan State again in the Big Ten Championship. Which I think we can do if we pull it together offensively.



Alright, that's enough out of me.

I'm going back to WMC.

Songs of the Week:

We're going with some of my favorites from the blind auditions:

Damien - It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday


Luke Wade - That's How Strong My Love Is


James David Carter - Nobody Knows


Taylor Brashears - You Ain't Woman Enough


i grew up listening to this song and had totally forgotten about it. i literally laughed out loud when she sang it cause it's been my themesong as of late. the boyfriend's got this ex that won't leave him alone. even though it's been like 4 years, 3 of which were with me. i'm staying out of it cause i trust him. he loves me, he's not gonna cheat on me. we're gonna get married, what would be the point of that? but i did totally laugh at this refrain.


Alright, I'm officially out.

Catch you on the B-Side.

And I'm dying inside, and nobody knows it but me.

I mailed a letter this week.

Most nerve wracking document I've ever written.

Beating out COMPS, college term papers, applications to grad school, letters of recommendation for my teens, camp stuff.

Mostly because it's the most important thing I've written in a very long time. Possibly ever.

There's a reason I've been so focused on hockey and football and Disney music, and if you know me you probably already know what that reason is.

For those you who don't see me on a daily basis someone very important to me is sick and I'm not handling it very well.

I guess it's easier to focus on things like hockey and football, or spend four hours researching and posting Disney music than it is to face reality.

I've never been worried before because she's always been a fighter. No matter how many times it's come back she's fought it and won.

But it seems as though that's getting harder and harder.

I still have faith. I do. But it's a challenge. She's the best person I know. She doesn't deserve this.

I know she's not my mother, I have a wonderful mother, but outside of my immediate family I can't think of another person who's had as big of an impact on my life as her.

She's taught me everything from my ABC's to how to play guitar to how to run a camp to how to be a good person.

She's the whole reason I still do camp every year and without her there......I don't know. I don't want to think about it.

So I think about hockey. Last night's game rocked. Won it in a shootout. Ludvig Hoff is a stud. Can't believe they don't have peanuts anymore.

Or football. 5-0. Michigan State tonight. If we win we'll be top 10. If we lose I will be sad. Ameer is a stud. Hope Gregory doesn't leave us for the NFL.

Or Disney. Still can't believe my coworkers haven't seen The Little Mermaid. You can never be too old for Disney. Robin Hood and Sword in the Stone are my favorites. Unlike 99% of Americans I didn't like Frozen but I still think Idina Menzel is a stud. Can't believe they're making live action remakes. Well, I guess I can. But they better not be awful.

In summary: Living in a dream world is great, but sometimes you have to face reality and write letters to the important people in your life before it's too late. It also reminds me that I should take the time to thank the others who've had an impact on my life.

Gonna need some new stationary.



Nobody Knows - James David Carter

"A field goal's like kissing your sister"

Look, I'm posting again. And it's only been like a week. Instead of like a month. Woohoo!

Okay, so last time I did stuff in order, this time I'm doing them in reverse order.

Sunday Night: Sushi

Went out for sushi tonight for the Cool Aunt's birthday. Lots of food, lots of fun. Conversations ranging from Halloween parties, to dead people, to Christmas, to sports stuff. Never a shortage of stuff to talk about in our family.

Quote of the night: "How is she doing?"
Second Sister and myself simultaneously: "She's dead..."

Saturday Night: Huskers Game

The Cool Aunt took me to the Huskers game this week. I was super stoked 1, because it was homecoming, and 2, because the last game I went to was the Kansas game in Kansas back when we were still in the Big 12. Also with the Cool Aunt. So it's been a while.

We rocked it. Final score 45-14.

Ameer was unstoppable, Kenny had some awesome catches, and Tommy has really improved since last season. We have a really young team (with the exception of Bell and Abdullah) so we may have a pretty decent team these next few years.

Here were a few of our favorite things:

Ganz's Pants: I don't know if you watched the game but if you did there was no way you missed Joe Ganz's pants. (for those of you who don't know he used to be a QB, now he works with the QB's). Anyway, he was wearing these bright red plaid pants and they were just fantastic. They looked like something your grandmother would have bought you (like a bird sweater) and then he actually wore them. The Cool Aunt has labeled them as "The Gantz." Though we also liked "Gantzers." I'm wondering if they'll show up in the Huskers section at Scheels like those red and white striped overalls.



Joe is the one in the exact middle of this picture. The only non-player on the sideline not in khakis.

Westy's Crop Top: I love Westerkamp, you've gotta know that by now, but did anyone else notice how short his jersey was last night? It was like they ordered the wrong size for him or something. The Cool Aunt started calling him "Crop Top" as did the lady next to us. "Crop Top's back in..."



You can see it here in this photo, he's #1 running on the goal line.

"Sports Harder!": First off you should know that not all of my siblings are die-hard Husker fans like myself. Or sports fans at all. My brother and I are hardcore fans, but Second Sister knows nothing about sports. I taught her the strike zone this summer. Her motto for her children playing sports is "I don't care if he's running around with his shoes untied, he's having fun!" Anyway, halfway through the game I get a text from her and instead of "Go Big Red" or "Go Huskers" or even "Go Team" she texts me "Sports Harder!" We liked it so much it became our battle cry. Actually it reminded me a lot of that scene in the Big Bang Theory where Leonard paints "Go Sports" on his stomach.



Yep, just like that.

Difference between a touchdown and a field goal: You meet some interesting people at Husker games. The lady sitting next to me was very nice, a teacher, knew my boss, etc. But then we had some interesting characters sitting behind us. When we got stopped on 3rd down and were forced to kick a field goal one of them goes, "A field goal's like kissing your sister." I died.

"Just like I said": The Cool Aunt really wanted us to run a reverse and I really wanted Westerkamp to catch one in the endzone so we would periodically call them out. (you know like when a baseball player points his bat to the outfield like he's gonna hit a homerun) we were convinced on certain plays that that's what they were gonna do because of body language or whatever so she would say "they're gonna run a reverse" and then they wouldn't so she would respond "just like I said." Then I would say "Westy's gonna catch it in the endzone" and it would be a run play instead and she would go "just like you said." So we were totally right the whole time. Not.

Fear Ameer: Even the band had Heisman Fever. Check out what they spelled during their halftime show.





Epic. He does deserve the Heisman. I know he has some stiff competition but I think that run against McNeese State should determine it all.



Enough said.

Selfies Galore: Mr. Johnny Rogers made another appearance last night since it was homecoming. Everyone was getting selfies with him, including the cheerleaders. And guess who my cousin got a selfie with! Mr. Abdullah himself. Super coolness. While the Cool Aunt and I are not big on selfies we did snap one in front of Memorial Stadium. But it was backwards so we had a dude take another one for us.


Saturday Afternoon: TAB Game Day

On Saturday TAB hosted its first event - Game Day. With help from the guard I got the wii set up (which took forever) for MarioKart, plus I had all my board games from camp still in my trunk so I pulled those out. And see, the boyfriend says they're wasting trunk space and that I should unload them...but I've pulled them out on multiple occasions so they stay in the trunk. Also because I have nowhere else to put them really. We played some MarioKart - I dominated - "somebody's actually good at this game?" was one boy's remark, apparently he had never played video games against me before - and then we played some Apples to Apples - I also dominated. Now they want to do it again next year. It's on.

Saturday Morning: Adventures in the Parking Lot

Queen of the Known Universe and I need duo name. Like how Girlscout and I are Team Awesome, you know? We're thinking it should have something to do with our initials since they are the same. We did some excellent teamwork Saturday morning when the gate to our parking lot wouldn't let us in. I can't say exactly what it was, but it was brilliance and I'm proud. Thankfully, after multiple emails and phone calls it is now up and running again. Wildly entertaining.


Friday Night: Hockey Game

Friday was the hockey home opener. I was so excited and had been waiting for this night since like April so I was super pumped. Since the boyfriend was out of town I took Queen of the Known Universe. In true date fashion I had to pick her up, then we had to get her a t-shirt, plus she had to take a picture with the zamboni. Only thing missing was blood on the ice. I was surprised there were no major fights this time. I'm sure that will change as the season goes on. Jitters got to us and we started playing sloppy blowing the lead and losing the game in the 3rd period. Tempers were flaring at the end and they wouldn't even let them do their salute to the crowd just in case there were fights as they left. I've never seen that before. The Queen suggested they have one guy with the puck and then make a big circle around him 'til he gets to the other team's net. Would make for an interesting strategy. Like the Flying V from Mighty Ducks.


And that's all I've got for my timeline. Except it's TV season again, so here are my highlights so far:

Blacklist: Red and Liz are back and I'm stoked. With Berlin still out there the team is in hiding, so he sent Lord Baltimore to find Red's wife to draw him out. And guess who plays Red's ex wife. Mary Louise-Parker. I totally screamed. You have no idea, I'm sure my neighbors thought I saw another spider or something. For those of you that did watch it, the mystery figure in black has to be Tom, right? I mean, he can't be dead. And my "Run Lizzy Run" count continues. Scale of Awesome 10/10.

The Voice: Pharrell Williams and Gwen Stefani have joined Blake and Adam as coaches this year and they have been surprisingly persuasive. Gwen keeps playing the fashion and woman cards, and Pharrell writes poetry and calls people silk. I love them both, but that came long before the Voice. I did love when one contestant told Gwen she taught him how to spell Bananas. I remember buying that CD and then making Mom listen to that song on repeat the entire way home. Some pretty good singers this year, should be interesting. I'm working on my top 20 list. Scale of Awesome 9/10.

Scorpion: Based on a true story, this show tells the tales of Walter O'Brien and his group of geniuses. The first episode introduces the characters and then they get hired by the FBI to stop a terrorist plot at an airport. Was pretty good, I'll keep watching it if it keeps that up. And it's got Katherine McPhee which should be interesting. Scale of Awesome 8/10.

How to Get Away with Murder: Another Shonda series - I think Thursday night has become a Shonda-fest on ABC cause you've got Grey's then Scandal and now H2GAWM. It's a legal drama about a bunch of law students and their teacher - loving Viola Davis in that role - in which she basically is defending criminals in court while teaching them how to do it. And apparently in the flash forward her four main students killed someone. Should be interesting. Scale of Awesome 8/10.

Red Band Society: Octavia Spencer plays a nurse in a pediatric ward - yay for The Help stars getting major TV roles - her charges range from boys with cancer to a girl with an eating disorder to a boy in a coma to a snobby cheerleader with a tumor. The show is more about them living in the hospital, but she holds it all together. Scale of Awesome 7/10.

Mysteries of Laura: Debra Messing returns to TV, this time as a detective. It actually aired on the anniversary of Will and Grace which was cool. This series is awesome, mostly because it reminds me a bit of Women's Murder Club. Female detective. Ex-husband becomes her boss. Etc. But the crazy kids are new. Love her assistant - or whatever his official title is - the one who helps find the pre-school and all that. But Messing pulls off the detective which is surprising because it's so different from Grace Adler. I didn't watch Smash but I'm sure she was great in that too. Scale of Awesome 8/10.


Yet to come: Castle, Mom, 2 Broke Girls, Elementary, Grimm, Person of Interest, Bad Judge, Mulaney, Cristela, State of Affairs and Gotham (which I have taped but haven't watched yet).

Those of the shows I still tape. I gave up on Bones, Grey's, NCIS, and Criminal Minds. Bones lost Sweets, Grey's lost Cristina and half its cast, NCIS lost Ziva, and Criminal Minds lost Prentiss so yeah....I'll wait for the DVDs.

Songs of the Week:

Fireball - Pitbull


weird video, but good song. which is weird cause usually i don't like his stuff.

Bang Bang - Jessie J, Ariana Grande, and Nicki Minaj


i love this song but the only singer i like is jessie j - i love jessie j - but ariana's a bitch and nicki is weird. however they're all huge now so it's huge.

Boss - Fifth Harmony


Next. Love it.

alright, that's all i got. hopefully you will hear more out of me soon.

"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.

"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.

cause i can shine my light on, i can shine my light on you.

No I'm not dead.

But my computer was.

Hence the radio silence.

Thankfully now it is fixed.

As you've noticed when it's broken so am I.

Not sure how to function without it, yes I am one of those people.

And yes I have the tablet now to keep my sanity but the laptop is still my lifeline.

So what did you miss?

Well, there was Christmas with his family and a little with mine.

But I think I covered that already.

Then there was work.

I got to be at the home branch twice this week already.

Tomorrow we're off early for the holiday.

Well, 4 isn't really early, but it's something so I'm going with it.

What else have you missed?

Oh, the exterminator killed my spiders, yay!

I rambled about that already right?

I think that's where I left off, with my apartment in shambles.

But now the furniture is back where it belongs, the apartment is clean, my computer is fixed, the nervous twitch in my stomach is gone - huzzah for that - so I'm going to bed.

I know, I'm boring, I'm sorry. I'll be more exciting next post cause it's New Years!!

We still have no plans.

For New Years Eve that is, New Years Day is our family Christmas.

Plus the Husker game at 11.

A lot of people aren't excited cause it's a rematch against Georgia and we're gonna lose.

But maybe I'm wrong. Maybe we'll pull it off in some sort of Holiday Miracle.

Let's go with that.

Alright, that's all I got. I'm exhausted.

Song of the Night:

I've Got Your Number Son - She & Him


this one was awesome live. go here.

i was singing this all day today at work.

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

Who watches the Watchmen?

Huzzah for holiday weekends!

Mine was glorious, how about you?

Slept in Thursday, watched a bit of the parade, then picked up the boyfriend en route to Oldest Sister's place.

Food, fun, football, and frivolity. Plus a lot of family. It was fabulous.

Too many F's.

Anyway, ate a lot, watched some football, fell asleep for like 20 minutes, looked through ads, figured out stuff for Xmas list, ate some more, listened to some Elton, wrote out grad invitations - all of mine had to be approved since I kept screwing them up - then headed home.

That was Thursday. Today was filled with more relaxing. Yes I had today off too. I love City holidays.

Anyway, watched the Huskers lose - which sucked but maybe it's the push they need to fire Pelini, I know, I'm sorry if you're still a supporter - set up the trees - yay for good ones that don't make me want to burn them to the ground - and put up the stockings - we're in need of some new ones that actually match - and wrapped some presents - though not as good as my sister's do.

I'm not crafty, I can't wrap things all fancy, but everything is covered so I called it a victory.

After that stopped by the boyfriend's place and we watched Watchmen.



Saw much more of Malin Akerman than I ever wanted to but it wasn't a bad movie. Scale of Awesome says 5/10. The boyfriend seemed to love it. For the action. And effects. Not for her. I think.

That's all I got. Work tomorrow, off Sunday. Hoping to do some xmas shopping at some point.

On to the music.

I forgot how much I missed Lily Allen.



yes, i know it's like the 5th time i've posted that video but to be fair it has been at least a year so get over it.

She's definitely in my top 5 for favorite artists. I think it goes something like this:

Maroon 5
Karmin
She & Him
Lily Allen
Eminem

The Wreckers used to be in there but they got bumped down to number six since they haven't came out with anything lately.

And yes I know Eminem doesn't really fit with the rest of those artists. And my boyfriend hates him but I still love him so get over it.

Take me to the church on Cumberland Road.

Okay, I'm lame.

It's 10:30 and I'm ready for bed.

I don't know what's going on but yesterday and today I've just been dead tired.

It may have something to do with the fact that half of my family is sick and we had a farm meeting Thursday night.

Yes, a farm meeting.

It's really more like dinner and we talk about farm stuff. Well, my brother talks about farm stuff with his fancy maps and statistics while the rest of us nod every few minutes.

Joking, the guys talk a lot too.

Oh, I'm a farm girl if you didn't know that already. And we own land so every few months we meet and talk about farm stuff.

Anyway, ever since I've had no energy whatsoever, but you can't call in sick on a weekend cause we're already short staffed.

And speaking of being short staffed I actually got to spend the day covering at the home branch - where I ran into Sensei.

We were surprisingly busy, though it was an away game so I guess that's not completely surprising.

After work I had enough energy to get groceries, take out the trash, and attempt to make brownies without burning down the apartment before I crashed and burned.

It wasn't the same without Sketch here to criticize-I mean supervise...me.

But they did turn out okay.

Now I'm crashed on the couch, but there are football games galore so it's not really all that bad.

So excited the Huskers won. Was not expecting that whatsoever.

I think that's going to be my mindstate for the rest of the season. Just assume we'll lose and hope I'm wrong.

Now it's Dame vs. Pitt. Go Irish.

Intentional grounding, sad day.

Flipping back and forth between that and the Bama game.

They hosed my Tigers.

I forgot how much I love watching college football.

I used to watch pro too - Titans mostly - but it's not the same.

All about the money instead of the game.

As mentioned, I'm boring tonight, I'm sorry.

Think I'm going to crash before I go off on another tangent.

Hope you're feeling better than I am.


Church on Cumberland Road - Shenandoah


classic country. got my car back but i'm missing the xm radio that my mom's had.

speaking of churches, so at said farm meeting bunch of my family is there and one of my younger nieces comes up to me and says, "are you married yet?" "no." "well, when are you gonna ask him?" #girlpower

If that question was my job it would have happened a while ago.

but...not like i'm going anywhere. it'll happen eventually.

i'm out. legitimate pre-midnight post, holy crap tag in use.

Maybe if I act like that, flippin' my blonde hair back...

Ah the weekend. It flew by too quickly as usual. But at least it was a good one.

Saturday was zen-fest. Slept in, did a bit of homework before heading out to the farmhouse to watch the Husker game.

Holy crap man.

If you don't know what happened you should watch this highlight reel. It pretty much sums it up.



Madness, the zen stopped there.

Which was good cause then it was off to my cousin's wedding reception. Total rustic approach it was awesome. I jammed out with Homey-G-Wigger and Obi-Wan plus the Mentor came and joined our table and then my brother, his wife and family made an appearance. We hid out in the corner and talked for a while. Didn't really dance but did take quite a few pictures to send to my chair-ridden mother.

It was fun. I liked the whole laid back approach when we get married - if he ever proposes - that's what I want. No pressure and open bar. We got drink tickets. Obi-Wan actually went and stole us extra ones when we ran out.

Don't worry I was driving so I only had 2.

Amaretto sours, they're good stuff.

After the reception I headed to the farmhouse where Mom and I watched SNL.

Well, I watched SNL, she bailed on me for sleep.

SNL was actually funny this weekend. Eminem - who I love - performed and then of course Kerry Washington - who I also love - hosted.

These were my favorites.

What Does My Girl Say - Ylvis parody


better than the original. mostly cause i hate the original but i would buy this on iTunes.


Ain't no lady baby.


Respect my ability to assess a bucket.

I want a sound machine to follow me around.


How's He Doing?


He does not.

I love Keenan trying to keep a straight face. I would have died.

My new tradition whilst at the farm is to fall asleep watching episodes of MXC on Hulu. Did you know they have all the episodes available? It's love it.

Please tell me you know what MXC is. If you don't you are severely culture deprived and should now go and watch it on Hulu.com

It's basically the original Wipeout. Americans took the Japanese game show Takeshi's Castle and dubbed it in English. It's clearly not what they're actually saying which makes it even funnier.

Would have been nice to get that extra hour of sleep but instead I woke up to Mom yelling that I needed to ride with my brother in the semi to get the pickup and bring it home.

Hopped in the semi, drank my coffee and ate my cereal. Huzzah.

Then it was church, stopped by the VFW and got meals to go for lunch, I finished my paper, submitted it and then stopped by to see the boyfriend now that he's back from yet another motorcar adventure. 

Now I'm back and Carter and I are wiped. Gonna crash. 

Song of the Day: Driving my mom's car this week while my headlight gets fixed so it's back to XM radio and Songs You Know But Forgot You Knew Them

Stupid Girls - Pink


totally forgot about this one, back in the good ole days. jammed out to this one on the way back.

out. legitimate pre-midnight post, holy crap tag in use.

where oh where have the smart people gone?

They want a rodeo and 2 pound steaks.

I know, I've been crappy at posting this week but I'm back with a vengeance.

FRIDAY

Slept in. It was awesome. Then went over to Oldest Sister's house to pick up Mom for the walk. We walked 2 miles for the Mental Health Awareness thing at my practicum site. Got t-shirts and granola bars and all that, it was pretty fun.

Though last week Mom was one of those 80 million people you see hobbling around with a boot so now that the boot was removed I was afraid she was gonna keel over in pain at any moment.

But she made it the whole 2 miles.

And it was her choice to do the 2 miles instead of the campus walk so she can't blame me for anything.

Aside from waiting in line for 2 hours for food that never came it was a good morning.

Long story.

After that I went back to the apartment and took a nap.

For like 10 minutes before Oldest Sister texted and asked if I could pick up Bubby from school.

Another one of those flash forward moments. Do I go inside? Am I supposed to wait in the car? Thankfully 2 minutes after I decided to stay in the car they all walked out so I chose correctly.

After school I took him to his volleyball tournament where they won both games.

It was amusing though because it was a triangular and the other two teams had all these tiny tiny kids and then our team had three 8th grade boys who just dominated.

They served underhand the first game, but it was no mercy overhand for the second game.

I knew a few of the kids from camp, and then ran into a bunch of their parents so we talked for a while.

Since Oldest Sister and my brother-in-law were present - he was the coach - I took off to go do some homework.

SATURDAY

I'm on a bagel kick so I had a french toast bagel for breakfast with some honey nut cream cheese, as mentioned bagel kick so I've got many flavors, and then headed to the home branch for the day. Was interesting because we actually had a crowd as opposed to the work branch which I'm sure was empty for the majority of the day due to our proximity to the game.

Which is why my coworkers hate Husker football. But I love it so I was stoked that we won.

Check this Sportscenter Top 10 moment


After the game I headed out to see the boyfriend. We went out to eat and then went to see The Family.



Scale of Awesome says 8/10, I really liked it. A lot of humor but it ended pretty serious. Really good casting. Michelle Pfeiffer was my favorite, that supermarket thing was hilarious.

Don't piss off that family, seriously.



Song of the Day:

Wrapped up in You - Josh Wyatt cover


he's pretty good.

and i'm out. back to work tomorrow.

"He about sang soprano on that one..."

Saturday:

It was gameday in L-Town which means the library was dead. Which is okay every once in a while cause then I can work on projects and book displays. Plus we have fun keeping up with the score. This was a good one, 59-20. Got to do my victory dance.

After work I met up with the boyfriend and we went to the races. A different track this time and it was pretty fun.

I have a new favorite driver.

Never thought I'd say that.

Felt like I should get a shirt to match the crowd surrounding me.

Never thought I'd say that either.

But I held off. It's not like I would wear it to anything other than the races and since winter is coming that's basically over.

Sketch thinks it's funny that I'm going to races after she's done having to go to them.

Sketch is my best friend from college, and neither of us are race fans.

It's not that we're girly girls, we both grew up on farms, but you know, it just wasn't something we would ever go to. Then suddenly we both find ourselves dating these race-obsessed boys who drag us there.

Okay, technically I wasn't dragged, and technically hers is more obsessed since he has his own car and driver, but now I find myself becoming a fan.

I'm fine I promise, don't send an ambulance to make sure I don't have head trauma. It's just really interesting to people watch.

Granted we're in the middle of Nebraska so I'm used to seeing a bunch of rednecks, but these are serious rednecks. And drunk rednecks who yell and spill beer and all that.

Plus I like to watch them crash.

Which makes me a horrible person, I know, cause what if someone dies, etc. etc. But don't lie, that's what you look forward to too.

So that was Saturday.

Sunday:

So originally I had two big sporty things going today. If you can call golf a sport. It's more like an activity.

Think I might have lost some diehard golf fans there. SKIP!

But really, it's kind of like cheerleading.

Okay, it's the opposite to cheerleading, but similar to cheerleading it's not really a sport. It's an activity.

Think I lost some cheerleaders there.

Anyway, so we were supposed to golf in this tournament this afternoon but then a church member died and Pastor had to stay back and since 2G would be lost without our Fearless Leader we decided to skip out and run errands instead. I got groceries. Huzzah. Watched some Grimm season two and took a nap.

For like 20 minutes before driving out to play softball.

First game of the season since last week's got rained out.

I'm stoked, we're all pumped, and then the game is about to start and we only have 8 players.

So we're like...well, crap.

So, the Methodists being nice sent over 2 of their players to play on our team.

One of which was our neighbor. Which I didn't realize cause I haven't seen him in like decades and decades.

To be fair, neighbors when you live on a farm aren't 10 feet from you, they're more like a mile from you. Plus he didn't have kids my age so why would I know him anyway?

They also gave us a pitcher.

Who - and this is amusing - only made 1 real defensive play the entire game and it was to throw his wife out at first.

So he was walking home and/or sleeping in the truck.

Thankfully we play best when we're scrappy and were able to pull it off 13-10. Even though we were behind for most of the game, our lineup was way weird, our field positions were way weird, and we had a dude from their team pitching. Thankfully he didn't walk a lot of people cause he's a good guy.

It was actually a really intense game. We play really well in the beginning and the end, that's always our theme. Not sure what happens in the middle, but that's when they always catch up with us.

We started out 2 up, then went up to 4, then they tied us at 4, then after some homeruns they took the lead with 9 which we came back to tie...like 3 innings later...then they got another and I thought we were screwed but last at bat Pastor got a 2 run homerun and then Steve O got a 2 run homerun and we held them so we pulled it off.

Barely.

I really like to hit off this pitcher cause he throws it backward so there's a spin on it.

Well, not backward, but like you know how underhand pitch usually looks like, but he throws it differently with a backspin and I can smack the crap out of it.

I had a really good one over center early on.

It was actually amusing cause I was walking to the plate and on a whim I said something like "help me out here grandpa" and then just killed it.

So I know what to do now in clutch situations.

Granted he was a pitcher, but still. Family legend says he was set to go pro and the day before he was gonna start he got hit by a foul ball and there that went.

I'm hoping next year we'll have the whole gang back together.

It's not the same without all of Who's Steve there to celebrate the good plays.

Though it was amusing to watch Favorite Sister-In-Law jump up and down after she caught the ball and then watch my brother run over and jump up and down like a girl as well.

And that's all I got for this weekend. Exhausted and it's back to work tomorrow so I'm gonna crash.

Song of the Day:

We Like To Party - Vengaboys


"who sings this song?" x4 "the vengaboys!" x4


Oh, and the title quote for this post was after my brother hit himself with a foul ball.

Like I'd ever dry myself with something that has a possessive pronoun on it.

You knew it was gonna be an off day when I woke up an hour early to go to work early and sit in the basement jamming to Red Solo Cup with the Queen of the Known Universe.

My mother would be so proud.

She loves that song.

Husker gameday.

As a fan I love it.

As someone who works downtown where they sell my parking lot out to the public even though I've already paid for it I'm not so much of a fan.

So, woke up way early - cause it was a morning game - got my coffee from the vending machine and jammed in the basement listening to country music.

She had the same plan that I did and actually got there about half an hour earlier than me.

Jammed for a while before heading upstairs for actual work.

Where it was dead.

We joked in the morning about how many people were going to come in today.

I said 20.

Though when they changed that to how many not including those just on the internet or just to use the bathroom my number changed to 2.

My 2 volunteers.

It was a sad day for Husker Nation.

We're were rocking, up 21-3 at one point and then the second half came and they beat us 41-21.

Eerily similar to last year's game against them, though this time it was in our house.

Was totally bummed.

As was most of Nebraska I'm sure.

We're all nerds like that.

BUT I got to spend the last part of my day at the home branch with the Queen of Awesome so it evened out.

Now I'm at home with tomorrow off!

Softball game in the afternoon, the first of our regular season.

Though I guess our regular season has been cut down to just us vs. the Methodist's 3 times.

The other flavor Lutherans are scared of us and the E-Free don't have enough players.

Or at least that's the story I'm telling people.

I'll miss being mercenaries while playing on their team.

But it's on for tomorrow man!

Though, whilst comparing war wounds yesterday with my brother - he slid too - I was reminded I should wear pants so as not to break open my leg yet again.

He did it once and complained about how gross it is then called me crazy cause he would never do it again yet I continue to do it every year.

So. Pants.

Fine.

Sketch wins.

I predict a college anecdote is headed my way soon.

And I'm out.

I will deny this later.



Back to Big Bang Theory.

I love Sheldon.

"If he was easy to find the books would be called 'There's Waldo!'"

Today I was a Ninja of Awesome.

That's right, I rocked it.

Showed up early, worked with some volunteers, put together shelves - though to be fair, BossLady did most of the work.

She enjoys her mallet.

And dropping shelves so the ends fall off.

Though that is highly enjoyable.

But loud.

But highly enjoyable.

After that I put together my TAB minutes, sent them off by email, and talked to 3 of the 4 bosses who will need to approve when I ask them if I can take the kids to see Catching Fire as part of the Catching Fire party.

I think if they pay their own way and find their own transportation to get there it might actually work.

So far I'm 3 for 3.

Though one of the big pushes for it is if I challenge the kids to read the book beforehand so we can discuss the differences between the movie and the book afterward.

Which means I'll have to read it.

I know, I know, I'm horrible. I was the one who read Hunger Games in college before it got big then recommended it to everyone and then got 2 jobs and started school so there was no time for me to read the rest of the series.

The worst part being the people I recommended it to - Slim Shady & Fearless Leader - read it immediately along with the rest of the series.

So it's just me.

No, I don't know who she ends up with - if you tell me I will scream and throw things - and no I have no idea what happens in the next book but I'm assuming it has something to do with the President being pissed off about how that last one ended.

So I should probably read that and soon.

After all that I headed over to the practicum.

Practicum Count-Up 26/90. 

Today we spent actually shelving our libraries.

The nice people from maintenance moved our boxes (and boxes and boxes) of books from the main building to the men's and women's buildings that we're setting up our remote libraries in so today we spent in the women's building going through all the boxes and shelving the items.

I pulled them all out and made piles - fiction and nonfiction - then divided up the fiction into groups - and I blame this on our DVD organization at work, but hey I was the one to pick those so I'm allowed, A-F, G-N, O-Z - while he sorted and shelved the nonfiction.

And because I am a ninja of awesome the fiction fit perfectly.

Like literally, it went to the very end of the shelf with room for no more.

It was like we planned it that way.

See? Proof positive. Ninja of Awesome.

Then we went back to the main library for rootbeer floats - best practicum ever - and made plans for Tuesday. Which is when we'll officially set up the men's library.

After that it'll be staffing the desk and all that.

Should be fun.

He always has uplifting catchphrases for when I leave, "catch a wave" etc. This time it was "Go Big Red!"

Yes, he's a Husker fan as well, which makes it even more enjoyable cause we can talk Husker football.

Which I can't do at work cause clearly no one is as diehard as me.

Though I did skip the awesome game last week because I went to the races with the boyfriend.

Cause I'm such a nice girlfriend like that.

I'm hoping we play against UCLA the same way we played this past weekend. But we shall see. Last year's was not pretty.

After practicum I went shopping and bought birthday presents for my father and sister.

And called and sang horribly, as is tradition.

Tomorrow we're having dinner at the cabin to celebrate. There will be steaks and much rejoicing.

He did turn 70 afterall.

After shopping came back here, did some editing, wrapped the presents and turned on Big Bang Theory.

Got season six today while shopping, bazinga!

Clips of the Day:

Here's what happens when double date night turns into game night.

Girls vs. Boys



That's good but the next one's better.



took me twice to realize she looks straight at the camera at 2:11.

but I keep watching it over and over to hear Sheldon scream at 1:07.

think i found my new text message alert.

and I'm out.

First rule of magic: Always be the smartest guy in the room.

The boyfriend and I finally watched Now You See Me.



Holy crap.

That's all I can say.

Holy crap.

I did not see that ending coming whatsoever.

Scale of Awesome says 9/10 which is high high praise.

You can guess all you want, you'll never get it.

Now I want to watch it all over again. Knowing the ending I'll catch more the second time.

Actually I might do that now.

But I should sleep. It's late, I work tomorrow and we're going to the races after.

Eh, oh well.

I'll probably be asleep by the second act anyway.

That's all I have for today. Work went by super slow. Tomorrow will most likely be slower cause it's Saturday.

And Game Day.

Stoked. Though I'm skipping it to go to the races.

I have faith in my Huskers. I don't have to watch to know they'll win.

I'll catch the replay later.

On to the music.

We're skipping music, let's go with Clip of the Day instead.

Check this, 40 magic tricks in 4 minutes - LeclericShow



He actually has a cool channel, did a video a day basically all of magic tricks. And some other random stuff, but mostly magic.

Yes, I know I'm boring tonight.

Sorry.

But you should all watch Now You See Me. I challenge you to figure it out before the end.

And I'm out.

Thank you, I saw it in the window and I just couldn't resist it.

Ah, the joys of the farmhouse.

Just watched the top 30 funniest moments in TV history with Mom.

This one was my favorite even though it didn't make number one.



DEAD!

Though this clip is the reason I watched the show in the first place.



Awesome.


I didn't have much to say yesterday so I didn't post.

Worked 'til 6. Queen of the Known Universe and I were tied to the hip, which is actually kind of fun as she is pretty much my best friend at the work branch now.

If she leaves me for a boy too then I'm screwed.

Went home to pack then headed to the farm to watch the Husker game.

Good god, what happened?!

I mean, I'm glad we won, but what happened?

Sportscasters were saying we're supposed to win by 30 and we win by 3?

I was shocked that Bo wasn't mad in that exit interview.

But you know, it's a new season and we have a lot of people fighting for spots so they had to try them each out to see who plays the best in game situations.

Still, they almost came back and won it. That would have been bad.


Anyway, after that I went to bed semi-early for me. Fell asleep on the couch watching SNL and woke up at 7 when Mom walked past and went "what the?"

Woops.

Went back to bed, in my actual bed, 'til 9:30, went to church and then the fun began.

More camp stuff - huzzah! Went through 2 cameras with 1500 pictures and lowered them down to just 400.

Last year we included like 700 but this year there were a lot of doubles, blurry ones and people facing in the other direction so you couldn't see who they were.

Oh, for those of you who don't know, for the camp I direct we send out picture CD's every year.

We're a bit late this year, but at least they're out.

And posted to Facebook. With 150 viewers in less than an hour.

Take that everyone who says we're doing it wrong!

Well, person who says we're doing it wrong.

Well, person who says I'm doing it wrong.

Along with the CD goes a letter that thanks people and asks for feedback.

I'm sure I'll get one blasting everything I did. Read my camp highlights and you'll understand: Now Rhonda Has No Honda

But I'm past it. She can say all she wants. And I don't care because the rest of the crew is on my side.

And we have fun together. Like today, ordered pizza, joked around for a couple hours before finally completing our master CD's.

Then made plans for tomorrow.

Cause guess what tomorrow is?!

Church softball tournament.

We're gonna rock it.

We play Plymouth in the morning then a combo team after that, then break for lunch, then play Plymouth again in the afternoon.

Cause it's a rivalry. They beat us earlier this month, but this time it's on our turf. And we won it last year.

Go here: Unhook the Plow

So I'm off to bed cause I want to be all rested up for tomorrow.

Last year I stayed up 'til 4ish the night before, can't do that again.

Meeting up at 9:30 for our game at 10. Talked one of my old play kids to join the fun. And she's good so she'll dominate.

I'll attempt not to break open my leg again but I can't make any promises.


Don't Stop The Music - Treblemakers


John you're so right everything else seems wrong.

Out.

Holy Frijoles!

Okay, so this is what happens when I watch Sports Nation.

I find clips like these:



Yay, Rob Dyrdek!

Which then leads to clips like this...

Kickalicious


dude. watch it all the way through. the very last clip is my favorite. and got him a job in the NFL.

Which then leads to clips like this...



That's Husker football right there.

I still think that call was crap.

and then that leads me to looking up the fall schedule and if you know anything about me and Husker football its endless so I need to turn off Sports Nation right now.


I was zonked today.

I went to bed far too late so tonight I'm aiming for earlier, though you know as well as I do that won't happen.

Work was super busy, think I had like 40 some stats, though that's probably because I was on the front desk four hours in a row.

Was totally bummed cause they closed the Chinese joint next door.

I'm wounded man, I loved that place.

Granted it was usually just me there which explains their sudden closing, but still, that was killer food.

Dude.

Not cool.


The new lab is up and running.

It's all fancy.

24 filtered computers plus 1 young adult and 2 unfiltered.

Means a lot less waiting than there was when we had 17 total.

It's massive and all open and stuff.

It freaks people out when they walk up the stairs.

No more claustrophobic walls.

Actual air circulation.

Yay!


So tonight was big, of sorts, The Voice finale.

Called it.

Go Danielle!

Glad Michelle came in second.

Just not how I pictured the photo finish after the blind auditions?

From the start Judith was the clear leader and then she had to sing Bieber and there went that.

But Danielle deserved it.

She was a powerhouse. For 16 she was incredible.


The cool thing about the finale is that the whole top 16 comes back to perform.

The finalists get to choose who they sing with.

Michelle brought back Team Usher so that was cool - they sang We Can Work It Out - the Stevie Wonder version which I love and was my favorite song of the night.

We Can Work It Out - Team Usher - Vedo, Michelle, Cathia and Josiah


Danielle brought back Sarah, Caroline and Amber for a Carrie Underwood song, The Swon Brothers brought back Holly, Justin and Amber for something country but for the life of me I can't remember what it was.

The ones that didn't sing with the finalists sang in groups, though some doubled like Josiah, Vedo and Cathia.

These are my two favorites from the night:

Ain't Too Proud To Beg - Josiah, Vedo, Kris and Garrett


plus Holly on the sax, that was awesome. totally retro.

My Lovin' You're Never Gonna Get It - Cathia, Sasha, Karina and Judith


powerhouses. for serious.


Notice how I'm not posting Xtina and Pitbull?

As much as I love her, good god that was horrible live.

And Cher.

What the crap was on her head?



Was that alive?

Pretty sure I saw it move.

Okay, so now you can all cheer.

No more Voice ramblings until next season.

Anyway, after the Voice was homework, camp stuff, now I'm watching baseball...my LSU boys lost today.

Which means, yes, you guessed it, I owe the Cool Aunt a round of jalapeno margaritas cause her North Carolina lasted longer than my LSU.

Now I'm cheering for my backup - Indiana.

Go Hoosiers!

And that was my day.

Out - whoa, legitimate pre-midnight post, haven't had one of those in a while.

Holy crap tag in use.

"I hate trees." "They don't bother me." "You weren't in the last one!"

I know, I know, I skipped yesterday.

But you probably enjoyed the vacation.

We went to see Jurassic Park in 3D - cause I had never and apparently that's a crime against humanity - and was way passed midnight by the time I got back.



Was awesome in 3D, Scale of Awesome says 8/10. Dinosaurs seemed pretty realistic. The boyfriend says this is before the computer animated era so they were all robots.

Anyway, here are a few of my favorite quotes so far:

Dr. Ian Malcolm: God creates dinosaurs. God destroys dinosaurs. God creates man. Man destroys God. Man creates dinosaurs.

Dr. Ellie Sattler: Dinosaurs eat man. Woman inherits the earth.

Dr. Ian Malcolm: [as they escape the T-Rex chasing after them in the Jeep] You think they'll have that on the tour?

Ray Arnold: Hold on to your butts.

Tim: What do you call a blind dinosaur?

Dr. Alan Grant: I don't know. What do you call a blind dinosaur?

Tim: A Do-you-think-he-saurus.

Dr. Alan Grant: Ha ha. Good one.

Tim: What do you call a blind dinosaur's dog?

Dr. Alan Grant: You got me.

Tim: A Do-you-think-he-saurus Rex.

Dr. Ian Malcolm: Occasionally. Yeah, I'm always on the lookout for a future ex-Mrs. Malcolm.

So that was fun. And today was fun as well. Benefit for the Music Mentor. She couldn't make it and spent it in the hospital instead. 

Not good. 

But we sang some camp songs and they called her and put it on speakerphone. Almost cried when they told us her reaction. 

A bit off key but I'll take it. 

So we started with Someday, did a few she wrote, then some hymns and praise hymnal stuff, and then our finale was There's a Hole in the Bucket. Don't ask. 

Afterwards I watched the Red/White game. Dad had no interest but picked Nebraska to win it. 

Big guess there since it's Nebraska vs. Nebraska. 

And if you ever thought the Huskers were cocky or that they are obsessed with winning then you got nothin' on this game. Jack aka Team Rex made an appearance. He's a kid with cancer, and went in for a play. They gave him the ball and the whole red team surrounded him as he ran for a touchdown. 

So he's officially in the stats book with 69 yards. 

Check this. 

So cute.

Anyway, watched some NCIS afterward, stopped by the boyfriend's place on the way back. Ended up going to dinner with his parents and then picking up locks at walmart. 

Mmmm cheesesticks... was fun.

Alright, should really crash now. Working tomorrow.

Clip of the night:

that's a lot of props.

one of my many favorite parts of the show.


and i'm out. 

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.

You've Dated Worse.

Ah, a real day off.

I could get used to this.

Slept in 'til 11:30 just in time to get a text from the boyfriend asking if I was awake.

Victory.

Ran some errands, more Christmas shopping and got some Diet Dr. Pepper. Which is also on my Santa List. An endless supply that is. Along with a litter box that cleans itself.

After that I headed out to the college town to meet up with the boyfriend for lunch but first I stopped by Second Sister's place. Got to jam out with the kiddos for a while, the baby is getting big. Already pulling herself up so she was crawling all over me.

Cute stuff.

So jammed there for like an hour or so and met up with the boyfriend at this awesome Mexican joint. Margaritas of course. Half of which, well, more like 3/4th of which is in my fridge. After dinner/supper-ish we went back to watch the Huskers get hosed.

Sad day.

But good for an underdog team I guess. I used to love Oregon.

Football, not volleyball.

Back with Joey Harrington was the star.

Long story.

Anyway, watched the Huskers lose then went to see Playing For Keeps. Gerard Butler, Jessica Biel - which I knew but then there was Dennis Quaid, Uma Thurman, Judy Greer, James Tupper and CATHERINE ZETA-JONES!!

Who I did not know was in it.


Big stars, crappy movie.

Sadly, I thought it would be good but not so much. Scale of Awesome says 4/10.

Only line I remember is talking about an online dating profile suggesting "you've dated worse" as it's subtitle.

Alright, class tomorrow. Gotta be there at 10 which means leaving at 9 and as it is already 1 gotta sleep now if I intend on being coherent.

Stopping for coffee on the way, woohoo!

Song of the day:

Synthesizers - Butch Walker and the Black Widows


very Come On Eileen.

And yes, that is Matthew McConaughey.

Dazed and Confused, look it up.

More tomorrow.