My librarian's spicy under-layer.

Damnit, I don't wanna cheer for Omaha!

I was informed today by Alicia Teaze - aka one of the managers of the awesomeness that is the No Coast Derby Girls who also happens to be a librarian at the university - that my favorite (well, everyone's favorite) skater Flash Gloria has transferred.

Not only did she transfer, but she transferred to the enemy.

Damnit.

All my favorite jammers leave...

First there was Busty St. Claire - she opened a flower shop.

Then it was Lt. Slamher - she went overseas for the army.

But I knew I could always rely on Flash because she was MVP every year and we were dominating so why would she ever leave?

Our record is like 59-17 for gods sake, WHY WOULD YOU LEAVE?!

It's giving me physical pain.

Damnit, I don't wanna cheer for Omaha!

I know this may seem over-dramatic to you, but it's really not. If you knew how big of a fan I am you'd understand.

Is it weird that my favorite sports are roller derby and ice hockey?

When did that happen?

I mean, I'm head over heels for Husker football, that's always been there and always will be, but when did roller derby and ice hockey beat out basketball and baseball?

And then the only sports I play anymore are softball and golf.

Though golf isn't really a sport and technically I only do it like twice a year so it doesn't count.

We're well-inebriated for most of it anyway.

Where was I?

So yeah, Flash is leaving. Left already, actually. There's a bout tonight but I couldn't stomach going.

Totally bummed out.

Damnit, I don't wanna cheer for Omaha!

Okay, distract me. What else was I gonna ramble about?

Oh, inservice!

Every year all of the libraries in our system shut down for a day and we have a staff training day we call Inservice.

This year's was at the hospital - which meant I got to jam out with Juwanna afterward, woohoo!

It was alright, not my favorite, but it had its moments.

Here are a few of my favorites:

"I know about your librarian's spicy under-layer....let your freak flag fly."

"Never underestimate the power of a slightly inappropriate book...Captain Underpants is my gateway drug."

"Think about how much time you spend managing your boobs." *all of the men's mouths drop after viewing a particular slide*

"Do anything to combat that stress?"
"I'm drinking more....running, drinking, not at the same time..."

"Banning? This happens at the library?!" *room erupts....no our patrons are all perfect angels*

Oh and we also learned that if you vary your clapping speed it makes it sound like there's more people in the audience. Apparently a tip our director picked up after attending many of her late husband's gigs.

Our table had fun. Basically the same group as last year. I sat between the Queen of Awesome and the Queen of the Known Universe.

Talk about feeling inadequate...they're queens and i'm like...not.

This year's focus was all about health and wellness - hence the hospital location. We talked about physical and a little bit of mental stuff and how our health affects how we deal with patrons so we should always be at our best, etc. etc.

A bunch of us went out for Mexican at lunch. Had a big table. We counted the vegetables so we didn't feel so bad about that whole day of health awareness thing. Does cactus count as a vegetable? What is cactus anyway?

After all the lectures and our director's speech I met up with Juwanna in the entryway - introduced her to a couple of the essentials, Queen of the Known Universe and Superwoman. They wanted all the dirt, but she's smarter than that cause I have dirt too.

Was cool to catch up, we're gonna have a girls night soon.

After that Queen of the Known Universe and I hit up Barnes and Noble. She had to pick up a movie and I had to buy Attachments.

Have I rambled about Attachments yet?

I'm pretty sure I have but you're gonna get it again.

Attachments by Rainbow Rowell.

It's about a dude who works in IT at basically the Omaha World Herald and it's his job to flag personal emails and people who are gambling and all that and he runs across this series of personal emails between these two women - Beth and Jennifer - and gets caught up in their story so he doesn't flag them. Then Beth starts talking about this hot guy at work and it turns out to be him so he joins a gym and all that. It's just hysterical.

Beth is me.

You roll your eyes but it's true.

She talks like me. She says stuff I've said and would say in situations. She acts like I do in situations. She's in love with a guy works the night shift. Etc.

I'm pretty sure Rainbow Rowell just followed me around a took notes. A fact that I tweeted her about and she favorited it!

So who knows, maybe she did. She is a local.

Nebraska Pride.

Anyway, I keep reading sections of it over and over cause I'm hooked.

But that's a problem with me, I get so hooked on fictional characters and once they're gone I get totally bummed out and need an immediate replacement.

Luckily I have a bunch of editing I can do to fix that.

I always get hooked on them.

BUT READ ATTACHMENTS. It's fantastic. And it's available at your local library so you don't even have to pay for it.

Alright, gonna skim through it again for the 100th time then get back to my editing and crash.

It's been a long weekend and it's only Saturday.

Songs of the Day:

I'm starting a new music segment called Why don't people know this song?

It will feature fantastic songs - probably made up mostly of indie music - that people should know but they don't know.

Here's a classic.

Stuck in the Middle With You - Dawn and Hawkes vs. Josh Murley


Originally by Stealers Wheel and featured in the Tarantino movie Reservoir Dogs but not nearly popular enough. Some describe it as Bob Dylan-ish but I love it.

BTW Dawn and Hawkes may win the battle but Josh does get stolen by Shakira.

Speaking of The Voice, my top twenty are still kickin' butt. Let's take a look.

Voice Top 20

Christina Grimmie - Adam

Bria Kelly - Usher

Sisaundra Lewis - Blake 

Dawn and Hawkes - Adam

Brothers Walker - Usher - eliminated in battles

Cierra Mickens - Shakira - lost to Emily, stolen by Usher
Clarissa Serna - Shakira 

Audra McLaughlin - Blake 

Cary Laine - Adam - eliminated in battles

TJ Wilkins - Usher 

Alaska and Madi - Blake - eliminated in battles

Delvin Choice - Adam 

Ddendyl - Shakira 

Sam Behymer - Adam 

Paula Deanda - Blake - eliminated in battles

Kaleigh Glanton - Blake 

Jake Worthington - Blake

Madilyn Paige - Usher

Emily B - Shakira 

Kat Perkins - Adam

Rockin' it.

Alright, here's another Song You Should Know and then I'm out.

Everything - Michael Buble


not as well known, but excellent melody and lyrics

They're not here to fish.

So, this is my last post before I go off the radar for a week.

You may hear from me at some point but there are no guarantees.

Today was crazy, I started at the home branch where I got to work with the Queen of Awesome. We had fun as always, but it was the calm before the storm cause once I got to the work branch I was running all over the place trying to do supplies stuff, volunteer stuff, TAB stuff, and regular circ stuff just so that it was all done and set for the next week. The New Guy's got my back for supplies, Bosslady is good with the volunteers, I can check my email for TAB stuff if needed and they can handle the rest.

I'm really not looking forward to tomorrow, aka the beginning of Comprehensive Exams. I have a week to write 24 pages, if I fail I have to wait to retake them next semester.

Joy.

I think I'm psyching myself out. It's the not knowing what the questions will be that makes me nervous. I'm hoping that once I get them I'll be able to gauge how long they're going to take me.

But! I have my comrades who I'm meeting up with Sunday afternoon. We found a place with wifi and coffee and breakfast all day, huzzah! oh and pie too which is always good. So we may be camped out there for a while. That calms my nerves a bit, especially since we'll be meeting later in the week as well to make sure no one is flailing.

Here's my plan for the week:
Saturday - questions arrive in the AM, plan on coming up with outlines and finding resources
Sunday - church then meet with comrades to brainstorm
Monday - write all day
Tuesday - work/practicum/write more
Wednesday - write all day
Thursday - work/practicum/write more
Friday - write all day
Saturday - write all day
Sunday - church then final edits then submit them then family pictures

That's the rough draft schedule. I'm hoping to see my boyfriend at some point before Sunday. Girlscout says I'll need to take breaks just to keep functioning so that sounds promising. I'm thinking I'll send what I have to Bosslady and Oldest Sister by Friday - they have graciously said they would look them over just to make sure they make sense. It would be nice to be done early and then I'd have time to go back and edit them without all the deadline pressure BUT without knowing what the questions are I have no way of knowing how long they will take me.

See where the stress comes in?

But that's okay, as stressful as today was at work and as stressful as tomorrow will be tonight was really nice.

Went out to eat with the boyfriend then went to see Captain Phillips.



You get used to the accent.

While Gravity bored me - I know, you're still booing me - this one was totally opposite. Was on the edge of my seat the whole movie. Scale of Awesome says 8/10. Similar to Zero Dark Thirty it's not something I'd watch again but it was definitely worth it the first time.

The boyfriend is really sweet, tonight especially. He told me to focus on my school stuff and that if I had time we would hang out. He does have plenty of projects to work on - maybe both of us will actually finish something this week. But he has a point if I pass these, finish my practicum by December 1st and get at least a B in Youth Services I will graduate in December and be done with homework eternally.

Then we'll have all the time in the world. Unless he gets switched to second, then that's a different story.

Song of the Day: Flashback Friday

Bitter Sweet Symphony - The Verve


Alright, I'm zenned out now. Came home to a nice card and coffee giftcard from the Cool Aunt. She rocks and she knows how much coffee I'll be drinking this week.

So to sum up, I like you all, I think you are all awesome rockstar people, however if you try to get in a touch with me this week and I don't respond don't be offended, I just want to be able to turn off my phone and get this over with.

Hope you all have rockstar weeks.

"You don't look old."

When the boyfriend gets sick my Monday nights consist of:

Laundry.
The Voice.
Laundry.
Castle.
Laundry.
The Blacklist.
Homework.
Laundry.
2 Broke Girls.
Laundry.
Posting.
Sleeping.

Though sleeping almost happened about 5 things ago.

Today had its moments.

The best of which was courtesy of a tiny tiny child.

Okay, she wasn't so tiny.

I had these two girls signing up for library cards with their mother. While I'm typing in the information about the first one I say something like "whenever I see a 2008 birthday I feel super old."

The girl squints at me for a second and comes back with, "You don't look old."

Made my day.

Gave her a sticker.

Then BossLady had to ruin it.

Back when I was still at the home branch working with the Queen of Awesome I had this kid tell me I looked 31.

I was 24.

Which I brought up to BossLady and she said something to the effect of kids can't tell the age of anyone "this side of twenty."

Which cancelled out my "you don't look old" comment.

Thanks for that boss.

Other than that the day was a blur. Though I do remember submitting my monthly narrative and stats.

But that's about all.

Tomorrow is back to a half day with practicum. Yay!

New Favorite Commercial



It needs more than this, less of this.

I enjoy her. Especially when she hosted SNL, that was amusing.

Just a couple highlights from tonight's episode.

You and I - Briana Cuoco


yes that is who you think it is. if she makes it through to the live rounds she'll have her whole sister's fanbase behind her.

girl power.

Thrill is Gone - Monika Leigh


MANFIGHT!

"that's great maybe ya'll can go out on a date."

still working on my top 20, but these 2 are on it.

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

jet planes, islands, tigers on a gold leash.

Saturday:

So...Saturday morning I was supposed to have a whole group of volunteers come in from 9-12 to clean the lab and do various other stuff....and then they didn't show up.

Superwoman came in special to help and everything....and then they didn't show up. So, I ended up going to the home branch to jam with the Queen of Awesome in the morning then back to the work branch in the afternoon.

After work headed out to see the boyfriend. We watched a bit of the car auction - there was this huge old car auction in Nebraska this weekend that was all over the History Channel. Basically this car dealer kept all these cars from the 50s-90s and most of them had like 1-5 miles on them total.

So I guess technically it was a new old car auction...in 2013.

But it was on History so you knew it was big.

We watched the first few cars but then got tired of it, then went out to Applebee's for appetizers.

Since I had Sunday off I slept over at the farm.

Sunday:

Church this morning, sat with the family. Got dinner afterward, invited Homey G as always.

I was hoping to take a nap in the afternoon but there were 3 screaming children running all over and my father who wanted me to set up his iPod so that didn't happen.

For long anyway.

We got him an iPod for his birthday cause he said he would use it. It all sounds like a grand idea until you're the one who has to set it up and teach him how to use it.

BUT I was successful cause he brought it to the softball game and was listening to it.

So take that world!

He gave me a list of songs to upload by Abba, Rod Stewart, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Carol King, Beach Boys and Duane Eddy. And that's all he wanted.

For now anyway, I'm sure he'll have a new list for me when I go back home.

And I got to teach him how to use it, though I'm guessing Mark will have to give him a refresher course tomorrow.

I didn't get time to figure out the extra speakers cause I was already running late.

FOR OUR LAST GAME OF THE SEASON! except we decided to add another one next week. Which means I'll have to talk Superwoman into letting me leave at 5. We'll see how that goes.

I played like crap - the one time Dad comes - but everyone else did okay, including my brother who pitched and actually got all three outs in a single inning. I really like hitting off this pitcher so I kept reaching for everything.

Cause I refuse to be walked. I've only walked 2 times in the what like 7 years we've been playing? I think it's 6 or 7.

Oh well, we won it 11-4, even after we gave them an extra inning.

And they wanna play again next week so we agreed to take them on. Even though we're up 2-0.

That's okay, we can make it 3-0 and then get ready for next year. I'm bummed there's only 3 games this year. Last year's was great cause we had like 6 cause we played everyone twice. This year we're down to only 2 teams total so that kind of killed that.

We think they're scared of us so that's why they all dropped out. You know, cause we're just that awesome.

When we're all here that is. We were short last week - though still won - and tonight we were still missing some key players but hopefully next week the whole gang will be back together.

After the game G and I went out for ice cream, as usual, and I headed back cause it's more work tomorrow.

Now Carter and I are jamming watching some Iron Chef.

On to the music. 

Bohemian Rhapsody - Muppets


the boyfriend and i heard this at applebees and went what?

oh yeah, forgot they made one of these...

Royals - Lorde


catchy. i can't decide if i like it or not. i'm starting to. i think.

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

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.

Good morning, Team Awesome! So good he had to catch it twice.

Ah, church league softball.

Today was the 2nd Annual WELS Area Softball Tournament, and we dominated.

Last year's was a lot of fun - Unhook the Plow - but this year was extra special because we beat the team that beat us twice a month ago.

Sort of.

I mean, we did beat them.

In the morning.

However, we tied them in the afternoon.

But that's more of a longer story. I'll get there.

So, morning game against Plymouth - a developing rivalry - as mentioned, they beat us twice last month but this was our turf, our field, our team, our... whatever, you get the point. So it was on. And you knew it was on when Pastor showed up and greeted us with, "Good morning, Team Awesome!"

Homey G and I had planned to go early to warm up so I was there half an hour early followed closely by Megz and Tyler.

We threw the ball around for a while until the rest of the team joined us then headed in for the big game. A few changes to the lineup, this time Scuba Steve-O was working so he couldn't make it but we were joined by Tash - one of my old play kids - and Jordan who's Pastor's brother-in-law.

Both were welcomed and both showed some serious skills throughout the day so we're keeping them.

Our first challenge of the day?

The lineup.

We didn't have paper, so what do I flail to when I don't have paper?

That's right, my phone.

Make fun all your want, real life big brother, it was the ONLY PAPER WE HAD!

Until Tyler went to his car, got an old bill and we wrote on the back of that.

We switched it up a bit. I realized that we were putting most of our power hitters in a row so we spaced them out and it turned out really well. We won the first game like 9-5 or something like that. I should have written it down on my electronic paper, sorry.

All I cared about was that we won, which sounds horrible, but when you're playing your rivals that's all you would care about too.

After that victory they played Kearney/Grand Island. Two churches who had formed into one team, cause they didn't have enough people interested. Plymouth won like 19-10 and then we took a lunch break.

Jim O makes a mean burger, especially when you top it with sauteed onions and surround it with chips, watermelon, potato salad and deviled eggs.

I ate far too much which I didn't realize until we were out on the field again.

We were worried because the K/GI team had 7 guys and only 4 girls, but it actually worked out okay cause we won our afternoon game against them as well. We're nice and didn't make them take an out every time two men batted in a row.

That's the rule for our slow pitch league, you have to alternate boy/girl when you bat, along with each man can only hit one home run per game, however a woman can hit as many as she wants.

This game had a bit of a bigger spread than the morning one. They were up 2-0 after their first bat but then we batted all the way around the order right after that. Becky being the first out then someone else being the second and then around to Becky again who claimed the third out.

We gave her crap about that for the rest of the day.

But it's okay cause she gave us crap right back.

After that it was Plymouth again for the re-match.

We were zonked from our previous game, but knew that this would be the game of the day so we put our game faces on.

We were ahead for most of the game but they made a comeback around the 5th inning. Then it was tied 9-9. Until around the 11th inning when it was tied 10-10, until around the 15th inning when we said, um, okay. Let's call it a draw.

We're only supposed to play 7 innings.

But we're competitive so we had to keep going until there was a winner.

However, 4:15 rolled around and Pastor had to leave at 4:30 and when the other team's pastor wouldn't agree to a footrace against our Pastor to determine the winner we decided to leave it as a tie.

Which means next year it's gonna be even more of a rivalry.

But I claimed us the champions since we had beat them that morning.

I had some good hits throughout the day. Getting on base more than getting out, which is always the goal. Actually, I think the entire day I only got out three times. Which is pretty good since we played three games and they had some wicked good fielders on each team.

But so did we. And I got to be in the outfield with Pastor, Tash and my brother. I switched off innings with Megz until I was sidelined for an injury, though I still batted.

An injury which I'm sure you all expected.

The obligatory "I slid and broke my leg open again" one.



Woops.

6 years and counting.

Or is it 7?

Same spot, same leg, 7 years and counting.

And usually the same base - stupid second.

The problem with this year's though was that when I broke it open it wasn't all that bad. Jim O cleaned it and I went back in the game.

But you know me, I slid again, breaking it back open and then it was just gross.

Instead of having him clean it again, cause it hurts, I went home to take a shower.

Which ended up hurting even worse.

But now it's clean and all wrapped up.

Though tomorrow I'll have to wake up early to re-do it I'm sure.

Ugh.

I know, I know, I bring it on myself. And I'll get yelled at tomorrow by not only Sketch - who I'm surprised hasn't "middle-named" me yet, but also Queen of the Known Universe and the Queen of Awesome.

Who's exact words when I told her I'd be playing softball this weekend were "try not to rip open you leg again."

Sorry.

My bad.

To be fair it is tradition.

You'd think I'd have enough scar tissue built up by now.

Anyway, it was a great day.

"Who's Steve" dominated. Go here for the team name explanation if you don't already know.

And we're having t-shirts made for our regular season which hopefully starts soon.



Quotes of the Day:

Pastor: "Good morning, Team Awesome!"

Me: "It's the only paper we had!"

Mike: "Anything that can move without feet freaks me out."

Pastor: "So good he caught it twice."

and then a completely unrelated one,

Me: "Your couch is unplugged?"

ask Mom about that one.


Song of the Day: Song You Know But Forgot You Knew It

All I Really Want - Alanis Morissette


heard this one on the way there this morning and have been singing it ever since.

classic Alanis.


Now I'm off to re-wrap my leg before crashing and hard. I'm exhausted. Half and half day tomorrow which means I'll be on my feet the whole afternoon. Gonna need all the sleep I can get.

Legitimate pre-midnight post. Holy crap tag in use.

Some are reaching, Few are there, Wandering from a hero's chair.

Today was one for the record books.

I broke a door.

Not on purpose.

I'll get there.

Staff meeting in the morning. Presented on the conference I attended before camp at the boyfriend's library.

Huzzah for new teen material. I bought two of the books tonight - I'll get there too.

I learned a lot at the conference but the highlights I relayed were: "make your fiction seem like nonfiction. if it's not believable then no one will finish it," and "if your characters say 'do it my way' you do it their way or you'll have a crappy book", but I forgot "writing is the next best thing to napping". woops.

I enjoy writers. They are highly entertaining.

After the meeting I checked in magazines, trained a volunteer on how to scan media, worked the desk, got a hamburger for lunch, and all was fine and boring until I broke the door.

Okay first off, it wasn't my fault. I was going into the bathroom and the stall door just fell off.

Like literally fell off.

Dropped and bounced.

I screamed like a teenager, so loud that a coworker busted in freaking out.

We looked and there were metal shavings on the ground. Apparently the door hinge had been on its way out for a while, it just happened to officially fall when I was there to take the blame.

The best part of the whole situation was having to explain it to my supervisor cause he had to call to get it fixed.

Of course Superwoman was gone, Girlscout was in a meeting, BossLady was at lunch, so I went downstairs to Supervisor Alley and there was the Old New Guy sitting innocently at his desk...

He found it entertaining.

I did too.

After the whole shock factor wore off.

It literally just dropped and bounced.

And what would you have done in that situation other than scream and attempt to catch it?

Let it drop I guess.

It was a lot heavier than I thought it would be so I just ended up leaning it against the wall.

And then of course I had to take a picture.



Woops.

Door Killer.

Don't know my own strength.

Anyway, after that disaster things calmed down a bit 'til Mom showed up and scared the crap out of me at the desk.

But she brought zucchini bread and catfood so it's okay.

Shouldn't mix those two up, that'd be bad.

Saving the bread for breakfast tomorrow, yay for food in my fridge!

After things had calmed down I took a break to call another librarian. For my practicum we're setting up that remote library and we're going to use BISAC instead of Dewey so on Monday - my day off - I'm going to go visit a library using BISAC and talk to their librarian.

It's the one in my college town so maybe I'll swing by campus just for fun.

Not.

And Mr. Tom aka my Mr. Bossman Sir for my practicum says it will count toward my hours as it is for research purposes.

Huzzah!

Should be fun.

After work I met up with the Queen of Awesome for supper and a trip to Barnes and Noble.

Bought far too many books, but who doesn't while in Barnes and Noble?

I need to just go in there with a set list and not sway from it.

But that won't happen.

Got Second Sister's birthday present - which was the original intent - ate some good food, talked some girl talk, it was good to catch up as we haven't in a while.

And then of course ran into Oldest Sister, Squirt and Squirt's BFF in the parking lot.

They were headed where we ate supper, but as it was freezing in there we had left and were headed back to Barnes and Noble to jam in the much warmer cafe area.

"My cat weighs 23 pounds and 6 ounces."
"I have a child who weighs less than that."

Should really turn this dinner out thing into a monthly deal just for sanity purposes.

Bought another novel while we were there cause I had forgot about it until I saw something like it.

Huzzah for Richard Castle.

He is wicked awesome.

After our night out on the town I hit up Target for groceries. Cause for some weird reason I buy them there instead of an actual grocery store. Probably because I get my media, shoes, and all that there too, I'm all about one-stop shopping.

Came home, fed the cat, now I'm jamming out and watching Wipeout re-runs cause my DVR is full.

Gonna post this and crash.

No Envy, No Fear - Joshua Radin


posted this back in 2011, the night before my last day at the home branch.

sad sad day.

really like his music.

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

Giving you all of my heart was a good start but it turns out you want my soul.

Carter killed the bug.

Remember the one from earlier this week that I whiffed when I attempted to kill it and then was horrified about when it would make a second appearance?

Was staring at the wall and suddenly pounced.

My hero.

Though it scared the crap out of me cause I had no idea what was going on.

Good cat.

For once his excess energy paid off.

So he got treats.

Today was fun.

Got to work at the home branch with two of my favorites - the Queen of Awesome and Space Cadet.

Plus a special guest appearance by Superwoman.

And my favorite volunteer who comes in every Tuesday and processes all the holds and new books.

Always gives me the glare when I find more in the tubs and put them on her cart.

"you about done?"

Was very busy the whole day, barely got to sit down all morning - which is good.

I signed up like 10 people for summer reading today alone.

Think I've signed up that many total since it started at the work branch.

But that's because we direct them to the volunteer table.

And of course they all had to sign up when I was alone on the desk trying to manage the constant phone calls and line of people.

But that's the norm.

I think they wait 'til we're alone to strike.

Like, oo, look! That one has been abandoned by the herd. Let's strike her while she's alone.

Anyway, went out for lunch with the Queen of Awesome. Freaky fast subs plus some chips and a pickle for her.

It was seriously the king of all pickles, like a gigantor mega pickle.

Gonna have to get one next time I go in.

After lunch I headed back and got to work with Space Cadet.

I love Space Cadet. We always have so much. She makes fun of me cause I can't cook, I make fun of her cause she doesn't know how to work her iPod, we debate things like who would win in a fight a sea cow or a snow leopard, you just never know what's gonna happen.

Though today I only had like 2 hours with her and like I said we were swamped so there was no debating.

A bit of making fun of, but no debates.

Came home, did some camp paperwork, watched the Swon Brothers again beat out 2 women that should have smoked them but they have all of Oklahoma behind them so they're safe.

No way they're better than Judith, Sarah and Sasha.

Now both Adam and Shakira are out.

It is cool they were all still in it up to this point. Last year Xtina was out way early with her all-pop team.

I was really pulling for Sasha to come through.

Now I'm rooting for Michelle and Danielle but guessing Danielle is gonna win it mostly because her iTunes downloads have been off the charts and they all count as part of the final tally.

After all that did homework, posted it, got on here and now I'm gonna crash cause I'm exhausted.

Song of the day:

Don't Know Nothing - Maroon 5 live version


cause it was stuck in my head all day.

like all day.

and yes i know i posted it earlier this year during Maroon 5 week, but it's still in my head.

you'll just have to deal as the obsession continues.

But then, you know, there's always drums, and bass, and maybe even one day a tambourine.

So, I don't know what the heck happened this morning, but when I woke up to the steam cleaning dude knocking on my door - 9:30AM - my left leg was asleep and I fell three times on the way to the door.

It's like 10 feet from the couch to the door so it was every freaking step.

I can only imagine as to what he was thinking outside my door cause every time I fell a different expletive came out.

And not quietly.

It explained the amused look on his face when the door swung open.

And Carter was just laying there like what the hell?

Like, by the time I made it to the door I was holding on to it for dear life, then stood against the wall for a while just to make sure I wasn't gonna faceplant in front of him.

The last time that happened to me in the morning - that I can remember, though a lot of my mornings are fuzzy cause I hate mornings - was in high school. And actually it was because I was injured.

So, if you know me or you've read this long enough you've probably heard of the sleeping walking incident.

If not, here's the short version.

Basically, I had this dream that I was crabwalking through a tunnel on a college visit and it turns out I was actually crabwalking down my bed. And the metal bar that I felt by my feet was real. I stepped on an office chair and it flew out from under me so naturally I grabbed the closest object to me to regain my balance, that just happened to be a dresser.

I woke up on the ground - tile floor was especially cold that night - with something really heavy on top of me and I couldn't move. About 10 minutes later, after the panic attacks had stopped - I realized that I had a roommate.

Juwanna thought the screaming was just me having a bad dream. So did I - somewhere between all the flailing and the blacking out - though that changed when she turned the lights on and went "oh my god!"

Then, when I could actually see that the giant object crushing me to the floor was in fact my own dresser, filled with my clothes and covered in my radio and my random crap that was now scattered all over my floor, I was able to realize that no, this was actually happening and it would probably be a wise idea to, in the future, just sleep on the floor of a room with padded walls.

Anyway, my ankle got crushed somewhere between the dresser falling and it being lifted off of me.

Juwanna went to get the dorm-mom, who naturally had to call the Dean - oh yeah, the Dean of the high school - at like 2AM - then she gave me a glass of water and put me back to bed.

I woke up in the morning with her at the base of my bed asking if I could get up.

I took one step and totally face planted - again on the cold tile floor.

That's when she said, "well, guess we should call your parents."
"Crap."

Still haven't heard the end of that one.

Yes, that was the short version.

Granted I don't remove painting from walls like one former coworker but I'm pretty sure that one can top any of your sleep-walking stories.

I lost myself.

Oh right, so yeah, that's the last time I remember having no control of my body and not being able to regain my balance before I fell straight to the ground.

So that made for a fun morning.

The dude was actually very efficient.

And chatty.

So that made the fact that he was cleaning my carpet as I sat on the couch less awkward.

Carter hid out in the kitchen the whole time - he's not so good with loud noises - but the carpet has never looked cleaner.

It took all day for the carpets to dry, watched 10 Things I Hate About You amongst other things, much funnier than I remember. But hysterical cause I was quoting it as it went. Didn't realize I had watched it that many times growing up, but apparently so.

Now everything is back in its place.

Though I'm thinking of asking my parents if they can take my foosball table and store it for me until I have a house and a place to put it.

Cause I can't get rid of it, cause it's like a memorabilia thing, you know? And the third best Christmas present ever.

The first being Maroon 5 tickets from my boyfriend and the second being a signed script from Charmed from Second Sister.

Yes, I am one of those Charmed nerds.

I could be queen of all Charmed nerds can cause I can list episode titles from all 8 seasons and quote from each of them as well.

Speaking of quotes, so my original intention - before all these ramblings - was to go through my box of random crap that I've collected since I moved here that's filled with all sorts of coworker and patrons quotes from the three years that I've worked in the library system.

Yes, as of today, it has officially been three years of working at the work branch - technically it was 3 years in the system as of the 16th cause that's when I started at the home branch, but I already did a big post about the home branch my last day there, so, here's to three years.


Things overheard at the library:

"It takes two to screw up a tango. Or something like that."

"Why would anyone want to eat anything that pink?"

"My sickle's in the car."

"Give me the one with the naked dancing men."

"Don't give me virgins, no!"

"There's so much water around the mosquitoes are gonna be as big as small birds this year!"

"We could call it PITA - Pain In The Ass!"
"Yeah, BYOP - Bring Your Own Painkiller."

"That's my mean look."
"You need practice."

"I left it on a cruise ship."

"She kept constantly murdering people in hopes of meeting Angela Landsbury."

"Do you get paid to sit there and look pretty?....And she's smart too!"

"I would have cussed him out in Russian."


Coworker Moments:

Fearless Leader holding up a copy of Legally Blonde the Musical: "THIS is why I hate musicals!"

Little Shelver Boy: "Can you check out anything in the library?"
Slim Shady: "Yes."
Little Shelver Boy: "Then can I check you out?"
Slim Shady: "Don't you have books to shelve?"

Queen of Awesome: "Trash it and do a happy dance."

Space Cadet: "Screw the fan, you want an e-reader!"

Me: "He went all Hulk and broke in!"
InfoMan: "The lights were still off!"

Me: "I just got an LOL from Superwoman. Brings me back to my MSN Messenger days. 'BRB' I'm not actually going anywhere but neither is this conversation."

Shirley: "You've been naughty so here's the scoop. Your Christmas gift is snowman poop!"

Girlscout: "My orca is gonna attack your porpoise."

Me: "Wicked? It's like the ultimate fan fiction."

Patron: "Hey, I'm trying to get my groove on here."
New Guy: "You're gonna have to get your groove on somewhere else."

Space Cadet: "You deserve like a sticker. or a gold star. or a pizza."
Superwoman: "Oh good grief, she would say pizza."

Space Cadet: "If I yell-"
Me: "I will run."

Superwoman: "It's a psychological thriller."
Slim Shady: "What does that mean in the context of ballerinas?"

Super Librarian Status: "Someone tried to flush a copy of The Economist down the toilet."
Me: "Irony."

Queen of Awesome: "I am envious of your boxes."

Me: "You looked all serious."
Space Cadet: "I am serious, I gotta get rid of this 7Up!"

Me: "You're a fan of Charlie's Angels?"
KPH: "I'm a fan of girls in general."

Me: "Here is my phone number so you can stop calling my mother."
Superwoman: "Maybe we like talking to your mother."

Fearless Leader: "I tried to use p-slip as a verb, p-slipping, don't do it."

Me: "Codeword: Josh."
Slim Shady: "You're good. You're really really good."

Me: "Some dude got bit by a rattlesnake at Walmart."
Library Judge: "Yeah, but it only caused 60% damage."

QotKU: "I don't want to cougar him."

QotKU: "I'll wait for the hot firefighters."

Me: "We should write a book called 'What the hell were we thinking: The Hindsight Bias.' We could have a chapter called 'Relationship Mistakes, Mishaps and Malfunctions."

Cabin Fever: "Tell them you worship snakes. Always works for me."

Darth Scheduler: "A joyous observation on the day of your birth!"
Me: "What?"
Darth Scheduler: "Happy birthday."

Me: "You threw away the plant?"
Koha Queen: "It was dead!"

Me: "Well, in the words of Eric Overmeier..."

KPH: "I'm a sweater addict, I admit that freely. She wanted fashion in the 80's, has that changed?"

Me: "Does the coffee machine in the breakroom work?"
Fearless Leader: "Don't do it!"

Me: "Just say no to vending machine orange juice."

Me: "Justin Bieber wants to know if I like pie. What do I say? Now he's threatening to mug me if I don't answer."

Sensei: "I think this is a lovely start to the book you're going to write. I will be happy to provide color commentary."

InfoMan: "What happens in the library stays in the library."
Girlscout: "Or checks out for three weeks."

Supervisor: "Let's take 'em down!"
Me: "I gotta go upstairs, you're gonna have to 'take 'em down!' with Jeff."

Darth Scheduler: "Arg the pirate caveman."

Slim Shady: "Just say 'ew' and walk away."

Me: "Does that container say 'barf chips'?"
Glee-Loving Boss: "Yes, they are waste pickup deoderizers."

Me: "What are face aerobics?"

Extra
Second Sister: "If he shows up at your apartment do not let him in. Break up with him over the intercom."
Me: "An intercom breakup?"
Second Sister: "Oh yeah, they're all the rage."

Seth Godin: "We need librarians more than we ever did. What we don't need are more clerks who guard dead paper."

Random Notes in bin
$0.25 for slot machine from Supply Queen - quarter spent in Vegas



Wow.

That was a lot.

But it was three years.

Three years of awesomeness.

Here's to three more.

why do we even have that lever?

Chief quoted Emperor's New Groove on my wall yesterday.

So guess what I'm watching tonight.


Watch that and tell me it's not hysterical.

Please just try.

"and when it arrives I'll s-mash it with a hammer!"

Should totally make another.

Cause Kronk's New Groove was dumb.

But it wouldn't be the same since Eartha Kitt died in 2008.

She voiced Yzma.


"It's called a 'cruel irony', like my dependence on you."

Haven't seen this in like a decade.

Jokes are funnier now.


Probably one of my favorite cartoon movies of all time.

Might in fact be my favorite cartoon movie of all time...

Let me think.

The only other cartoons I really watched were Garfield - and I didn't even see those movies cause they sounded awful - Scooby Doo and the movies they made of those weren't animated, and if they made some I didn't see them. Then there was Rocket Power and....well I watch The Grinch every Christmas, the original anyway. Lilo and Stitch was good.

Yep, I guess it takes the cake.

And how can you beat David Spade and Wendie Malick's reunion?

Oh, Just Shoot Me, that'd make for an awesome movie!

Did you hear they're making a Veronica Mars movie?

Anyway, David Spade, Wendie Malick, John Goodman, Eartha Kitt, and Patrick Warburton - who I now just call Kronk no matter what he's in.

So today flew by pretty quickly.

Started off at the home branch with the Queen of Awesome.

Always fun to work with her, even if I am half-asleep on my feet.

Sleep-deprived Space Cadet #2.

Anyway, after a couple hours there headed back to the work branch, then lunch at the Chinese joint when I noticed the Eli Young Band bus parked outside the library.

And it's like massive and taking up multiple parking stalls.

The Reference Queen was curious if it was paying for every one of those meters...

The rest of the day was dedicated to catching up on the manhunt.

You always know it's big when the TV's on at work. Otherwise it's just the powerpoint.

After work it was homework. Worked on it from 8-1. Still not done.

I mean, I would be, if the website was working.

Stupid online resources and their update hours.

Apparently normal people don't research databases on a Friday night.

Or I'm just not doing it right.

Either way it's not due until 10 Saturday night.

So I'll have tomorrow to finish it up, it's literally the last question, it'll take me 20 minutes tops.

Even if it Breaks Your Heart - Eli Young Band



Goodbye Earl - Dixie Chicks


still one of my favorite videos of all time.

If your neighbor's not laughing explain that joke to him.

Ah inservice.

So, a lot of us were worried, because there was just one speaker like the whole day.

Normally we do breakout sessions so there's no time to get bored cause they're each like half an hour.

But with a guest speaker, and the same speaker all day, if they suck, then you're screwed.

Surprisingly, the chick rocked.

For serious.

And apparently, according to a branch manager, reminded her of me.

So perhaps that's why I thought she rocked.

But no, she was great, very funny, very engaging, didn't stand in the front and speak at us ever, she was always in the crowd walking through, cracking jokes.

And she definitely changed my perspective on poverty vs. middle class.

The short version is that in poverty what matters most is relationships while in middle class it's more about achievement. Once you understand that then you are better able to help people.

Sat with the Queen of Awesome, Mentor, Queen of the Known Universe, Music Librarian, Awesome Aide, Super Librarian Status and some other cool people. We jammed in the back, close to the food and the exit.

We had some killer snacks. I ate a lot of bagels with flavored cream cheese.

Went to lunch with the Queen of Awesome. Ate some barbecue, had a brisket, it was awesome. Fries and coleslaw. We finished early so we went back and played cards.

See, see what would happen if I cleaned out my car?

Again, usage of the board game box.

Take that everyone who keeps telling me to clean it out! That's like 3 times since camp.

So there.

Anyway, we played Go Fish and Old Maid - which she had never played before - she kicked my butt, beginner's luck. Then Queen of the Known Universe and I played Kings on the Corner. We left it tied 1-1 so next week it's gonna be on man.

Yet to be decided what the loser has to do. We'll think of something.

Some quotes of the day include one from Boss's Boss's Boss: "I get to follow hand sanitizer..."

and then the rest from our Guest Speaker:
-"If your neighbor's not laughing explain that joke to him."
-"We have disposable cars."
-"Thank you for cheering for that, people in Minnesota don't even cheer for that anymore." (about Vikings going to championship)
-"You don't call AAA, you call Uncle Ray!"
-"You might read a book! *mumbles* librarians...."
-"Middle class has made alcohol good for you, thank you! Exercise? No thanks, I've got red wine!"
-"What the? How the? Who the?"

But it was fun. Even though I had to leave the apartment at 7:15 in the AM.

And just got back at like 10:15 PM, but that's a longer story.

After inservice I headed out to Second Sister's house for Mom's birthday party. It was more like a Mom's/Abby's/Bek Kate's bash. They all got presents, as did I. More purple kitchen stuff from Second Sister. Man, was excited for those boots - see post here: Yippee-ki-yay! No, I like it, I will use them.

Was fun, even the boyfriend made it out. I got to play with the baby.

Who's not really a baby anymore.

I asked him if he wanted one of those, he claims he's too broke.

Then says we shouldn't have one because it would suck to be an only child so then he says we should have two and if we're gonna have two then we should have four and if we have four then we should have eight and when the number got to 64 I said I wasn't popping that many out cause I'm too queasy and then the conversation changed to me cringing at the Manchurian Candidate when he stabbed himself and pulled out the probe.

But that was gross!

Anyway, we jammed.

Ate some good food.

Joked about Dad turning 70 and what to do for his birthday in September.

-"A card shower?"
-"How about a surprise party?"
-"I don't know if you want to surprise a 70-year-old."

Was relaxing, but now I'm zonked.

So I'm gonna post this and then crash.

Big day tomorrow, Sketch and Edit's Excellent Adventure, take two.

Maybe - Sick Puppies

aaannd i'm out.

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

You asked for a large bag of hair, on the way to Taganskaya Courthouse.

Bruce Willis trying to speak Russian and the cabbie saying what he actually said.

I'm paraphrasing, I'll fix it later.

Yes, this is late but at least it's posted.

So it's been a whirlwind of a day.

Woke up feeling like crap, headache, runny nose, sore throat but it's all mental so I figured I could power through 8 hours to get to the 3 day weekend. Though it occurred to me that if I called in sick and then took vacation on my birthday I could have like 5 days off in a row.

But I would go insane with boredom.

Anyway, another slow day for stats, think I increased to like 30ish, which isn't bad I guess though like 15 of those were electronic assistance cause it seemed like everyone was having problems in the lab today.

Watched an episode of UK Winter Wipeout at lunch.

I'm working my way through the other countries cause I finished the USA version, all that's online anyway. Then it was Canada, then Australia now UK.

I can always tell who's in charge of schedules for the day by checking the time I'm scheduled for lunch. If it's Bosslady I go at 1, if it's my other supervisor I go at 12. But that's cause BossLady knows I prefer 1 cause it breaks up the day, hour-wise. 4 stations in the morning then lunch then 4 stations in the afternoon.

Not important, anyway, I can't really remember anything spectacular about this afternoon, after awhile they blend together.

After work I picked up the Queen of Awesome as she is car-less and dropped her off at her place then like a crazy person decided to drive to the farmhouse stopping to see the boyfriend on the way there.

Which was stupid cause the roads are awful.

Was literally sliding all over the place, at one point I had my foot on the break for like half a mile and the car wouldn't stop. Glad the car ahead of me was far enough away for the car to just coast out. Otherwise I'd have to drive on the grass to avoid them.

It made for an interesting ride. I kept switching songs thinking, "do I really want to die to this song?"

Really weeds out the favorites in your playlist.

I know, morbid, sorry.

Here are a few surprises:

Be My Escape - Relient K

love these guys.

The Beat Goes On - Sonny & Cher

wow they look young. and happy.

guess history really has turned the page...

Anyway, these 2 are catchy but with the Beat Goes On it was like background noise cause I wasn't paying attention to it - I was actually focused on the road - but you know when you get like halfway through a song and then realize that you've been singing it from the beginning but didn't even realize it?

Or is that just me?

Delayed...Reaction used to karaoke that song all the time, but I haven't been there in years.

So I stopped by the boyfriend's place then went over to see a few of his friends. After that we hit up Die Hard 5 aka A Good Day To Die Hard.


It was pretty good. The boyfriend jokes that in the next one he'll have a walker. But he is in his 60's I believe so it is feasible.

Still fits the character perfectly.


"Need a hug?"
"We're not a hugging family."
"Damn straight."

Basically storyline is his kid gets in trouble - he hasn't seen him in years - so he goes over to talk to him and ends up getting caught in the middle of his son's mess.


"The 007 of Plainfield, New Jersey."

Keeps claiming he's on vacation like pretty much every other Die Hard movie.

Scale of Awesome puts it in the 7/10 range so not bad. Not great like the 1st and 4th but still better than 2 and 3.

It didn't help that the girl in front of us wouldn't sit still, she was driving the boyfriend nuts. And the rest of her group talked and texted through the whole thing.

We couldn't decide if they were high school band geeks - were conducting the opening orchestra - or just really annoying college freshmen.

In the end we decided freshmen.

Afterward I made it to the farmhouse unscathed.

Probably not so smart to drive home in that weather, but it was worth it. And I'm pretty sure the parentals wanted me to come home as I haven't been often lately.

What's interesting though is I think the last time I lived a full year at the farmhouse was in the 8th grade because I went to a dorm high school and college, then right after college I got the 2 jobs and moved out completely.

And the last time I lived here longer than a month was 2008 cause summer of 2009 I was taking care of Grams.

Weird.

Speaking of Grams, been working on some family history lately so you may be getting chunks of that throughout the week.

Interesting fact is I have so much more information on my dad's side than I do on my mom's. But that's cause I grew up half a mile away from them and went over there every day after school.

The irony being that the matriarch who could tell me all the stories I'm seeking on the other side of the family doesn't remember them.

Or me.

So I'm screwed there.

Sorry, morbid again, I know.

But I gave you the music rec's and the Scale of Awesome rating so I'm out. Have a good weekend.

A Dothraki wedding without at least three deaths is considered a dull affair.

Got to sleep in today. Think I got up around noon.

Though "got up" is more like rolled over and turned on Game of Thrones.

On disc four now.

I can't decide if I like it or not.

I mean, the first episode was okay. But then the next few were like, eh.

But now it's back to being okay.

I think.

I don't know, I'm mostly watching it cause everyone else says it's good.

Well, "everyone" meaning people I actually listen to about these things.

So I feel like I should keep watching and give it a chance.

Oh well, if it sucks I still got my popsicles.

The joy of library DVD's. See, I used to buy stuff like this and if it sucked then I was stuck with it.

Though I don't remember that happening - oh no wait,

My Super Ex Girlfriend.

That one was awful.

Anyway, the joys of library stuff is that you can return it.

Well you have to return it, not can.

Though for some people that decide they'd rather rack up $3000 worth of fines it's more of a can.

I was semi-productive today.

Got to play hero to a damsel in distress.

aka Queen of Awesome when her car wouldn't start.

Picked her up and drove her home.

Got 2 points from Superwoman for the whole adventure.

Which gives me more points now than my mother.

She got 150 for sending an email with an attachment.

After I taught her.

Though Space Cadet is still ahead of me by like 23.

She got 150 for sending an email with an attachment - after I taught her how to do it - and then got 25 for something else.

But it's on.

As is Game of Thrones and I'm totally lost so I think I need to rewind a bit.

Oh and I paid rent.

So I'm calling it a productive day.

On to the music - more of 2012's greatest hits


Settle Down - No Doubt


missed these guys.


She's So Mean - Matchbox Twenty

do drums sound the same when they're on fire?


One More Night - Maroon 5

adam the boxer.

huh.

gonna be hosting SNL in a few weeks, will have to actually tape that one.

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

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.

blue, blue, blue christmas.

Interesting day today. Got to spend it at the home branch with the Queen of Awesome herself.

And us working together is even more rare than myself and Slim Shady being paired up.

Needless to say the day flew by.

Got to catch up on a lot of stuff, though I kept getting blamed for things getting broken. Self-checks, Koha holds queue, etc. geez, think the building is still mad at me for leaving.

I miss the good old home branch but with the work branch there's so much more going on all the time. Which is good but can be bad as well.

After an extremely fast 9 hours the boyfriend picked me up and we headed over to Grams place for our annual pitch tournament Christmas party.

Every year it's a huge thing. Gag gifts, pizza, card playing, family stories - you know the usual holiday cheer. Got some interesting presents. A bath mat from my bathroom floor, candy, wine glass, dancing baby... crap. i just got rid of that thing. Its on.

Story behind the dancing baby is a bit of a mystery. It originated around 15 years ago and has been making the rounds ever sense. And its not like a nice cute doll. its ugly. and it dances. Well, its two pieces so when you shake it its upper body flails and it looks like its dancing. and its still in the package. If you get it you're stuck with it for a year before you wrap it up and give it to someone else.

Favorite sister in law and I were pitch partners as usual and dominated...the last game. The game we ended with zero points was a little questionable but to be fair it was much better than the negative score the hand before.

We made some crazy 7 and 8 bids to pull off the final victory. Got a stress ball and a bar of soap favor prizes as apparently working and taking classes is stressful and the soap was a present for those who swear, which I do occasionally.

Sketch is laughing I can tell.

But not in front of Grams. She did pretty well tonight with all the excitement. Usually she gets tired early but she lasted the whole time.

Alright on to the music. Off tomorrow so excited to sleep in. Have a good one.

Another slight change as last year's included Charlie Brown and as I can't post it twice in a row I'm switching it out with Run Rudolph Run.

Christmas Music That Doesn't Suck: Day Eight

Christmas song - Mel Torme and Judy Garland
can never go wrong with judy garland.


Blue Christmas - She and Him

love these guys.


Run Rudolph Run - Cee-Lo Green


yes more Cee-Lo, sorry Sketch.



For last year's Day Eight go here

and whispered in the sound of silence.

Things you've missed this week:

World Kindness Day Celebration
-So we knew there wouldn't be a giant turnout because of the game timing, but we had a lot of fun with the people that showed up. And the TAB kids got really into the pin the food on the cornucopia game. One of the kids got so lost he ended up behind the staff desk - and the posted was hung up on the staff door by the PAC's.

Smooth.

So we made our bag turkeys, spoon pilgrims, pilgrim hats, and hand and foot turkeys, plus ate some cookies and drank some apple juice with the Queen of Awesome.

Fun stuff.

Oh, and the QofA was also the first of my coworkers to meet the boyfriend.

Pretty sure she's proud of that.

Oh, totally kissed him in front of my kids and didn't even realize it. Cause you know how stuff like that can turn into a routine thing?

Or is that just us?

It wasn't like a serious thing but when I turned around and they were all smiling I was like, did I just? ah, crap.

Won't be living that one down any time soon.

More fun life stuff a work friend of mine is pregnant and I TOTALLY CALLED IT! Cause I can tell the symptoms, I have three sisters and 8 nieces and nephews I can tell the signs.

Ask Second Sister, got in the car to see Wicked,

"Are you wearing perfume?"
"Are you pregnant?"
"Oh my god!"

She knew for a like a day.

Anyway, I was joking that I had called it but she denied it so I was gonna go up and say "In your face!" but pregnant women are hormonal and nauseous so Queen of the Known Universe said the friend may counter with "On your shoes!"

What else?

Oh, I have a new nickname from Sketch.

Hazmat.

Long story.

But previously I was Pancake.

So now I am a Hazmat Pancake.

I'm sure there's more - oh like tonight, we - Maegan, Sam and myself - interviewed a reference librarian for an assignment. I finished all of my other stuff for that class so really I could write this paper from my notes and be done with homework for that class. All I have left is a physical class next month and we're good for the semester.

But I still have the other two classes to finish. Two more major assignments and some discussion boards. This week I'm off for holiday so no homework or discussions - huzzah!

I've already started on one of them, I should really get going on the other. Perhaps I'll work on them over Thanksgiving break.

Ha.

Right.

What else?

Oh, did some Christmas shopping this morning. I'm now done with Favorite Sister-In-Law, Booge, Abby Cadabra, and Claire, plus KJ, G-Wigger and Obi-Wan. Halfway done with Mom. Have one thing for Dad but it's not a lot.

Working on presents for the boyfriend's birthday and Xmas.

So that's.... let's see gotta count there's

2
4
5-4 so 1
5-1 so 4
plus Laverna, Grams

oh and I got the Cool Aunt done.

And I should get something for the Library Goddess.

so that's what like 14 left? Plus the boyfriend x2 so 16.

And I should get stuff for his family so there's more.

Eh, I got time.

I still haven't made my list.

We've started doing this thing over Thanksgiving where all the siblings take over the couches in one room and pass around the ads and make our lists. It's quite handy.

Bookshelves may be good.

I have like 3 well, 4 smaller ones but they're overflowing. Maybe I should ask for some tall ones. I could put them where the shorter ones are now and then use the shorter ones for DVD's and CD's or pictures or something.

But they've gotta be good sturdy ones cause I'm an English major so there's a lot of anthologies involved.

Plus like every work by Shakespeare, a bunch of classic novels, some random nonfiction, and A LOT of popular fiction. One of my volunteers was talking about favorite novels. I told her I was a Patterstonian. She thought that was funny.

Please tell me you get that reference.

Back when the show was still good.

Alright, music and I'm off. Got a meeting in the morning to plan out the next newsletter with the Library Goddess.

Huzzah for coffee.


Sound of Silence - Simon and Garfunkel


legitimate pre-11:50 post. holy crap tag in use.

I think I thought I saw you try.

Ah, relaxation.

Church with the family in the morning, then dinner afterward. We took G-Wigger to celebrate her birthday. She and Second Sister are the same age.

After dinner was naptime. Which was fabulous. I miss naptime it was the only good thing about getting sent off to Rainbow World, of course I hated naps back then.

And Rainbow World too.

Yes, they did actually name their daycare center Rainbow World.

If it helps it's a church now.

That didn't last long. The only real memory I have of that place is hitting some kid in the head with a hammer. In my defense it was plastic and I'm pretty sure he did something to merit the giant thwack that sent me to the corner.

No wait, I remember watching some kid eat crayons and peaches simultaneously.

So make that two life-scarring memories.

Soon after I went back to staying with my grandparents or great aunt after school whilst my parents harvested.

Where was I?

Right, naptime.

Turned on Grimm and fell asleep on the couch. Apparently the show is much too scary for both of my parents but has no effect on me. I just love the fairy tale tie-ins. Like I said, total nerd when it comes to Charles Perrault or anything fairy tales.

After naptime I headed back and had supper with the Queen of Awesome. Rainbow chicken and fries, cause what else does one order at Lazlos?

Well, swordfish apparently. I had to take a picture.

And, yet again, half of it is in my fridge most likely to be eaten at around 2AM.

It was good to jam out with her, we haven't done that in a while but she is injured and I am busy with work and school and stuff. It's back to real life for the week.

I'm so exhausted that I will probably fall asleep the instant after this is posted, which is taking longer as I'm having trouble sitting up straight.

And no you can't blame that on the one adult beverage I had tonight at dinner, it's far gone by now.

I'm not sure why I'm this tired. I actually slept this weekend and I took a nap this afternoon so you'd think I'd be fine.

Oh well, I guess analysis isn't really necessary.

I will fall asleep, Carter will jump on me, waking me up so that he can sleep on my stomach - which is both cute and obnoxious - I will not be able to fall back asleep and be reminded of the fries in the fridge. I will get up to eat the fries and Carter will be pissed because it will be at that exact moment that he finally goes to sleep. Then I will get bitten for moving and get the glare on return to the couch/bed that I had fallen asleep on. He will have spread himself out, taking over the couch/bed making me have to move him causing him to bite me a second time....

This is pretty much our routine.

I could go on longer but you'd get bored.

Song of the day:

Losing My Religion - R.E.M.
bizarre video, rather cultish actually but i guess it works

Legitimate pre-midnight post. Holy crap tag in use.

so we're coming out of the kitchen cause there's something we forgot to say to you...

I find myself watching the Arizona vs. FSU game over and over because I keep falling asleep and I want to watch the extra innings. I mean, I know who wins, but I still want to watch the extra innings.

Actually a pretty good day, taught one of the interns how to do expired/cancelled holds, checked in a whole cart of new stuff, helped out at the Summer Reading Event with the Saltdogs, got my picture taken with the mascot after my camera phone backfired on me like twice, found some books for an outreach event with one of my TAB kids, did some supply runs meanwhile stabbing myself with a pencil, taught a different intern all the Lab stuff with Girlscout - Team Awesome reunited - and then came the highlight of the day which was girls night with the Queen of Awesome.

That rocked.

Got some indian food, will probably eat my chicken tikka leftovers at around 2AM - have you ever noticed how good food tastes in the early AM's?

Actual adult conversation about actual real-life stuff mixed with a really strong cosmo and our amusing stories made for a fun night. After dinner we hit up a coffee shop and sat outside for a while. Her kiddos are getting older and my camp is coming up so we talked all about the joys of children running wild.

A nice break from the norm and makes me miss the home branch even more. But I get to work there next week so that'll be fun.

Took some excellent pictures, I'd upload them in my phone wasn't being so weird. Technology and me are just not cohesive today.

But it wasn't all play today, wrote and submit a paper tonight. We had to attend a summer reading event and do a write-up, done! Now all I have left for that class is a nonfiction reading strategy due Thursday, upload some audience and appeal reviews on goodreads for 4 nonfiction and 4 cultural j books, and do a media book project pimping out a book in a virtual way, and then I'm done!

So tomorrow will be a big day as well, after work I gotta go get groceries cause Smo is coming and I got nothing, then clean, then write the nonfiction strategy paper and upload those reviews then go to bed. And Thursdays I'm supposed to go to my nephew's game and learn how to do book as apparently they want me to do that for some future games. For some reason. Guess we'll figure that out.

Oh and Thursday is also Food Drive Day, meaning early morning picking up barrels and driving to all the branches to drop them off and explain the gameplan. Meaning I should have that officially written out so I'll know how to explain it. In actual grown up words that sound professional and make sense and stuff.

Yes, and stuff.

Alright, song of the day:

Heard this one immediately after our departure from girls night and found it fitting.

Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves - Eurythmics feat. Aretha Franklin

love the dance moves from 2:18-2:20

out!

and baby, you've got what it takes.

Pretty busy day today, worked 9-6, then hit up Squirt's volleyball games, and made it home to watch SC lose to Arkansas, sad day.

But we're not out of it yet we can come back. Take on Kent State on Wednesday, the only Cinderella left of the bunch. Still sad Stony Brook got eliminated, still blaming it on jitters. It's a lot to take, few errors and a lack of offense kind of kick your own butt.

That just leaves Arkansas and Arizona as undefeated. I don't have problems with either of those, Zona kicked UCLA's butt so that was cool and Arkansas has NE's old coach Dave Van Horn. That's who Grams picked for the tournament. Cool Aunt got her a shirt, bet she was excited to see them beat SC tonight.

Sad day for me, but they'll come back.

Stoked Florida is toast.

We're not big fan of the Floridas. Or anything from Texas. Minus A&M, I don't mind them. And the Horned Frogs from TCU, they're okay. Kind of an interesting logo but I guess so is a gamecock, seawolf or cornhusker really.

Enough about the CWS, I'm sure I'll overload you with that for the next week.

What else is going on?

School. Lots of homework there, though not as much this week which is nice since I'm semi-busy.

Big plans for a girls night tomorrow with the Queen of Awesome, desperately need one of those, gonna get some indian food, then Thursday night Smo is coming out to stay over as she has a thing here on Friday. I'm just glad I have Friday off. Gonna sleep in, do some homework, work some movies maybe. I have so many freakin' things checked out that I haven't gotten to yet cause all I watch is baseball.

And skateboarding.

I love DVR.

Apparently the boyfriend is excited about Dallas's return to TV.

I have no qualm against Dallas, though I didn't watch the original, apparently I'm supposed to look into it.

I'll add it to my list, along with the rest of Dark Shadows and Bewitched seasons 2-8.

Anyway, so I'm trying to work on some time management this week. Did a little homework tonight, planning mostly and finding books, can write and finish everything Wednesday night and since it's not due until Thursday at 11:59PM I'll have to time to finish any leftovers before Smo gets here at 11.

What else? Umm... few more camp applications today so got to input all that information. But I'm kind of a nerd for that stuff, I like assigning campers and counselors to cabins and coming up with a schedule, ordering t-shirts, and writing skits.

Speaking of, will have to work more on that soon, though technically I can't officially write/finish them until like the day of cause my numbers are constantly changing. I get frantic phone calls from parents on Thursday asking if their kid can still come on Friday. But I don't want to be that camp that turns people away so we make room and switch stuff around. Same reason we don't charge campers that much, we want to encourage them to come, get bigger every year. If that means we're gonna have to come up with some extra space we'll find it.

Like I said, nerd. I'm queen of the nerds.

And this queen of the nerds is thinking she should probably stop rambling about things like baseball, tv and camp so you will not actually think she is the nerd queen.

Cause I'm not a fan of that nickname.

Even though it's probably true.

So, on to the music recs, here's an unknown, he does a lot of covers and he's really talented on the guitar especially. He goes by "The other Josh Turner" as he is not the one you think of when you hear the name.

These are only a couple of my favorites, check them out.

"Baby (You've Got What It Takes)" cover by Josh Turner and Larkin Dodgen

these kids are great, excellent cover. his guitar is fantastic, wish i could play like that.


"Get Back" cover by Josh Turner and friends

like i said, impressive.

Alright, out for the night.

Life Is Short

Juice boxes are unloaded, edible campfires are stuffed and sealed, glow in the dark stars are purchased and delivered, my end of the deal is done.

Now all that's left is the actual kickoff party, which will be madness but well worth it. We're thinking around 200 kids, all in one area so it should be interesting.

But they've done it so many times they're pros, I'm just there to help where I can.

So I got to spend my morning at the home branch, was great to catch up with some friends, though it was mad hysteria cause of us being closed for the holiday. Basically a massive backlog for check-in plus delivery plus all the incoming from the day.

But we made it through unscathed.

After that it was kickoff prep with the edible campfires, basically sticking a bunch of pretzel sticks in bags and making sure they had all the ingredients in each bag, and then I made some more progress on the booklist.

And by more progress I mean like 2 titles, with the holiday and summer reading there's rarely time to sit down, let alone work on anything else.

But I love my job, and it's never boring. Especially not during summer reading. As an aide I loved it cause there was always massive carts to shelve.

I have this urge to see Dark Shadows yet again. Think I'm gonna hit it up with the Queen of Awesome. She's always fun to jam out with.

Speaking of fun, ran across some more useless information/random trivia over my lunch break. Cause that's what I do. When I'm not playing Angry Birds or doing homework, which speaking of, I got my official e-mail this week reminding me of the assignment.

Gotta read some kids books and an article about children's lit. Not looking forward to leaving at 7AM on Saturday mornings but it's with the Library Goddess so the coffee I stop for on the way will keep me alive and alert.

Plus she's fun so I won't sleep.

Not that I would sleep, I have yet to sleep through a class.

What was I talking about before this?

Oh right, random useless information.

- You're more likely to get stung by a bee on a windy day than in any other weather.

- By raising you legs slowly and laying on your back you cannot sink into quicksand.

- The longest one-syllable word in the English language is screeched.

- The music band UB40 got its name from an unemployment form in England.

- To avoid long encounters with the press President Reagan often took reporters' questions with his helicopter roaring in the background.

- In Baltimore it is illegal to mistreat oysters.

- Grapes explode with cooked in the microwave.

I'm intrigued.

May test that one out.

"Life Is Short" Butterfly Boucher