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.

All aboard the Babe Wagon!

You know how there are blah days and then there are really exciting days?

Today was one of the latter.

It all started with the Babe Wagon.

So the NLA - Nebraska Library Association - conference is coming up in October and Queen of the Known Universe and I have decided to carpool.

Since we need to be there by 8AM we'll have to leave at 5AM which means she's driving, cause clearly anything with me before 10 is questionable.

And, instead of driving her van 3 hours to the middle of nowhere, she has decided we should rent a pickup.

And not just any truck, a nice fancy one.

She's semi-obsessive about trucks, it's highly entertaining.

Combining this stylin' rental truck and our experiences this past week - aka getting hit on more than usual - The New Guy has dubbed it the "Babe Wagon".

Which we enjoy and have decided to chronicle our adventures with the Babe Wagon.

So look forward to that in October. I know I will.

The working title is "Adventures of the Babe Wagon" because if we were to call it "Adventures in the Babe Wagon" it might be taken as something else entirely.

We're thinking about getting t-shirts and having random men sign them with fake phone numbers.

1-800-CALL-ME!

and the like.

I'm sure Superwoman would LOVE us for that.

So most of the day - when we weren't swamped - we joked about the Babe Wagon.

Which made it quite the exciting day.

Add to that Mom - who is determined to remain the favorite staff mom - stopped by with cookies and fruit for the staff. We put them in the circ workroom and they were gone soon after.

So they were all thankful and she remains the favorite.


Plus the Library Judge and I had a conversation about the stereotypes of retired librarians.

We couldn't think of anything other than they get bored and become volunteers.

Which is true of one such retired librarian. :)


After work I came home, showered and vacuumed for reasons at work that will remain unexplained.

Then attempted to log-on to my online class for half an hour with no success.

Me, thinking it was just me having computer problems, started freaking out. Attempted calling both professors - to no avail - emailed them - to no avail - and then I thought, when in doubt, call the Library Goddess.

Cause she always knows what to do.

And yet again, she was the voice of reason saying: it's probably the site not your computer, give it time, don't freak out, you'll be fine.

And when the Library Goddess declares it to be fine then all is fine.

And she was right, it was the site not my computer, and the professor was able to email us a link that worked and we went from there.

It's so weird not having an assignment due for that class until September 22nd.

I'm too used to Summer classes when everything is due right away cause we only have a month.

Next up for me though is practicum paper #1 - we have one due at the end of each month - which is more of a progress report really. And then I think there's like a final final paper to sum it all up.

I'm sure I'll have even more to say after tomorrow.

And he came in today - which he does pretty much daily - and joked around with Superwoman.

I was helping a patron but I could hear my name and them laughing.

Which she does just cause I'm gullible.

Apparently cause I'm "sunny and happy" at the practicum I need to be "sunny and happy" at 9AM at work.

But, as previously mentioned, anything before 10AM is questionable. Which is why BossLady always schedules herself to be around if I'm scheduled to count money.

Just cause she knows about every 10 minutes she'll hear me yelling for her.

But I can't help it if it doesn't add up right.


So work was fun and class turned out okay, now Carter and I are watching Robin Hood.

The original animated movie from the 70's.

"Hiss! You're never around when I need you!"

This was always my favorite of the Disney movies.

Though I don't remember it being this depressing.

I've been watching a lot of Disney movies lately.

That clip from Little Mermaid over and over - scroll down a few posts, you'll find it - plus Sword in the Stone which is under-rated and awesome.

Though they all remind me of this particular Sketch and Edit.

Sketch and Edit Watch a Movie

Based off a speech by one of my friends in college and then expanded upon.

"Seize the fat one!"

Oh, well that's PC.

What's "Corpulent"? Searching Google.

Ohh, I like it.

I'm gonna use it.

Alright, off to bed after this.

The Phony King of England - Robin Hood


"Who's driving this flying umbrella?"

"This wand is about as useful as a Kardashian library card."

Got to jam with Sensei this morning, well afternoon I guess it was.

We had a magician come to perform for Summer Reading at the home branch. Sensei and I counted kids and stamped and stickered and all that for their Summer Reading Booklets.

Though we did sneak in during the act.

The guy was pretty good.

I'm still trying to figure out how he made a hammer disappear.

Or blocks change numbers.

Here he is performing some other tricks.



He is highly entertaining.

I saw him last year as well, go here: "it's gonna be awesome, awesome, it's not 2 in the morning, hey!"

Still trying to figure out how that quarter trick.

Anyway, the whole show all I'm thinking is Burt Wonderstone.



Have I given that a Scale of Awesome rating yet?

The boyfriend and I watched it a couple weeks ago.

It actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

Scale of Awesome says 7/10.

Normally I'm not into the stupid funny stuff but this had legit funny stuff mixed in.

Kind of like The Rocker.

That was the major highlight of the workday.

After work I went out to see the boyfriend.

We watched The Paperboy.



Holy crap Batman, that was a depressing movie.

Not only was it depressing it was god-awful.

Scale of Awesome says 2/10.

So we followed it up with the first 45 minutes of the last Batman movie.

Cause it was on.

Tempted to watch the rest but I need to sleep so I'm refusing.

Speaking of sleep, I should be doing that now.

Work tomorrow then homework all night.

Gotta get it done so I can work on camp stuff...

Then they'll both be done at the same time and I'll have some peace!!!

Until mid-August.

Then I'm screwed.

Music:

So I posted this video last year - it's the Star Wars movies cut up so that they sing Call Me Maybe.



Anyway, the guy created a new one for Lord of the Rings.



not as good as his Star Wars one, but it's a start.

And if you don't like that give this a try:



the boyfriend sent it to me and I find it highly entertaining.

in what speech did he say "swag"??

Can't Touch This


I think that one is my favorite.

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.

i'm singing along like there's no tomorrow.

Find this video highly amusing.


So I posted it on Squirt's wall cause she likes accents.

Coolest Aunt, 15 years running.

Just saying.

PS - She got her Learner's permit the other day, makes me feel SUPER old.

Wordie says he's gonna put foam all around his car just in case.

Stay off the sidewalks people.

I told her not to take driving lessons from her uncle.

He gave me my first driving lesson.

Here's how that went.

Ready?

"I just did three illegal things, what were they?"

Speeding.

Changed lanes in an intersection.

Did it without signaling.

I have a lot of weird early driving memories.

Second Sister parked her car in the ditch once - she and Favorite Sister-In-Law had a place in town - and Mom was coming so she wanted to convince Mom it was my doing.

Then there was my brother-in-law - the King of Useless Knowledge - letting me drive a car for the first time.

aka putting it in neutral and letting it roll like 3 feet in a driveway, it was AWESOME!

Hitting a deer with Smo and Shel in the car. With cappuccino. Yeah, those went everywhere. Best part we were like 1 mile from home. Called Dad, "does it run?" "yeah." "drive it home." To be fair it was like 10PM.

Driving over a hill with an ex and the yoyo in the cupholder flipping over and landing in place.

Dirt road in the rain, slid off that one with same ex and friend Jess.

Getting pickup stuck in mud at brother's place whilst attempting to go swim in his pond with friends.

...

I'm sensing a trend.

...

Perhaps these incidents were not my fault, there's always people involved.

Been in 3 accidents - none of them my fault.

Once on the farm, got hit by some dude my age who had - the month previously - put the same car in the ditch (in a giant snowpile) about half a block from where he hit me. My brother pulled him out. He suggested we not call the cops, because apparently, not only was he just in that ditch a month before but he also hit his friend's car not long before that and it was a cheap fix. After convincing him that I was calling my parents - well, my brother - he decided then was a good time to tell me his life story. Apparently he had a kid. Guess how he found out. "Merry Christmas, I'm pregnant."

That text came after they had broken up.

Meanwhile in my head I'm screaming, "where the hell is my brother?" If he were at home he could have been there in 30 seconds but instead he was in town with my mother so it took 10 minutes.

While that may sound like a super fast response time, it really doesn't feel that way when you're hearing someone's life story.

Cops showed up, gave him a ticket and he paid for the damage.

Accident number 2 was here, way north on 27th, got rear-ended by a guy named Kory.

Yes, he spelled it with a K.

Think his number is still in my phone.

Anyway, it was barely a scratch, more of a shock factor than anything else. I told him I'd have my brother-in-law look at it and then contact him.

3rd one Mom was driving. We were driving through Oldest Sister's neighborhood on ice, dude coming in opposite direction was going too fast, couldn't slow down, ended up spinning and hitting us.

Got to call the non-emergency number.

Again.

Good thing I work where I work.

Otherwise it would have been 911, emergency.

You learn so much from working at a library filled with crazies, drunks, and other festive personalities.

He was like half a block from his house, sad day for him.

Mom's car sat in my parking lot for a while 'til it could get checked out.

It snowed and someone made a smiley face on the hood.

Oh the joys.

But none of them were my fault. Much more cautious now with the new car.

I used to speed, a lot. Now I don't really see the point - not that I did then, it was just something you did when you're a teenager and stupid.

But now I have to watch out for freakin' cops who hide in alleys, then walk in the middle of the road pointing their speed gun at you and then point to a sidestreet you're supposed to turn off on.

Or the joy and excitement that was my birthday last year when I got pulled over in Second Sister's driveway. "Happy birthday, here's a warning." That was an adventure. But the speeding wasn't intentional, thought it was 35 when it was in fact 25.

No, I actually don't speed now cause I have to pay for the insurance, ha! And as much fun as Stop Class is - been there twice - I can really do without another 8 hours of "don't speed" "wear your seatbelt" "don't drink and drive" "don't text and drive" etc. etc. Although, the more recent one was more like watch these amusing video clips because the cop who's supposed to be here is sick.

How did I get here?

Oh right, Squirt and her driving capabilities.

They need to take her out to the farm and let her loose.

I never took Driver's Ed. I actually got my license when I was 14, or was it 13?

Cause you get your school permit at like 15 but then I could get it when I was 14 cause I lived more than 10 miles away from school and then instead it was 13 cause I lived on a farm too or some weird law thing.

I don't remember.

I was supposed to do like 50 hours of supervised driving but I'm pretty sure the parentals just signed at the bottom and called it good.

Speaking of signing, apparently the Library Goddess has perfected my signature. Good thing she knows how to spell my name. Ask her about that later.

And as for the parentals, today is Mom's birthday. I called, yay me.

And also Abby Cadabra's birthday. I called, yay me.

I asked her if she wanted me to sing and she replied, with absolutely no excitement whatsoever, "sure". No faith in my birthday-singing skills. So I sang anyway.

It was amusing, we - as siblings - banter frequently.

So this morning I get this text from my brother saying:
"Don't forget today is Mom's birthday. As I have already given her the continuous gift of having a child with her birthday no call is necessary. You less thoughtful children must call."
To which Oldest Sister replied:
"U r taller than ur hair." (We give him crap cause he shaved his head in college and the hair never grew back.)
And then Second Sister added:
"I don't claim to be the most thoughtful offspring, that much is certain. Just the best looking."

I WAS WORKING so being the responsible adult that I am, refused to participate. (actually I didn't get them until lunch and by then we had moved on to talk of burning farm ground so we can start from scratch. on purpose don't worry.)

Apparently the only skills needed to participate are being able to beat stuff with a stick with a mud flap on it.

And there must be beer on hand.

No, we're not redneck whatsoever.

I missed out on last time so I'm hoping to make it this year. Last year it was just the boys. Driving 4 wheelers around the fires.

Taking a break from their day jobs.

No, we're not idiots whatsoever either.

but that's enough family hijinks...

is it hijinks or hyjinks?

either way i'm getting those annoying red edit lines.

Got to see 2 of my favorite home branch friends today as they made an appearance at the work branch. Does that mean I can call them my "homies" cause they're from the home branch? or would that make them the "home branchies"?

I like "homies" better. Congratulations.

Didn't get to talk to Joe Studley for very long but it was good to catch up with Sensei as I haven't seen her since working at the home branch on a regular basis, cause she used to come in and check stuff out even after she retired. So that's what like November of last year, not like this past one though, the year before that.

Really?

Has it been that long?

Geez.

But I guess yeah, cause I started May 2010.

Alright, on to the music before I find something else to ramble about.

Up to the last of Maroon 5's greatest hits, so take like 11?

Heard the first one live, would have loved if they sang Doin' Dirt, that's one of my favorites.

Love Somebody


amateur music video, but cute.

Tickets


catchy.

Doin' Dirt


love it.

Beautiful Goodbye


fitting end.

Aaannd I just realized that I don't work tomorrow.

So I don't have to go to bed immediately, whoa.

All day yesterday it felt like Thursday. Now that it is Thursday I don't feel like I'm off tomorrow.

Weirdness.

Oh well, taking advantage. Will sleep in, do some homework, watch some movies and hopefully see the boyfriend at some point.


Oh, and Carter and I made snowpeople.






The one on the left is Norman. Haven't decided on a name for his friend yet.

cause this ain't no life or death situ-way-tion

"That sounds more like 'We're a tall, thin woman who wants to make a coat out of your Dalmatians'." 

Spent the morning at the home branch, afternoon at the work branch, and the evening with the boyfriend. 

The system was down so we couldn't search anything so I cheated and used Worldcat. It's a worldwide that says which libraries own the item you're looking for. Then if our library is listed you know it's available at one of the branches. Most of the time. Then if you know the author or the subject you could lead them to the section. Hopefully it'll be up and running by tomorrow morning.

At least the internet was working. Whenever that's down it takes the system down with it, and the patrons freak out cause they can't get to whatever website they're wanting to get to.

Got to see Sensei for about a minute, had fun working with some friends talking about old times.

Watched some Big Bang Theory with the boyfriend.


"Stick that in your speedo, Jacuzzi Bob."

I find myself falling back to that when I'm stressed.

Not that I'm stressed now, aside from work, school and camp I'm pretty relaxed.

Cause you know, none of those are time-consuming.

Especially when you're 40 hours at work plus taking a class that meets every Saturday and in the meantime you have homework to go with it.

Tomorrow night some family are going for pizza but I'm gonna have to finish my homework afterward since it's due Thursday. I have the majority of the reading done, just a few more pages then have to add the books to goodreads.com and find a pre-reading strategy to write a paper on.

"I'm not even gonna ask why you're pimping me out for cheese."

I haven't watched any episodes with Sheldon's girlfriend and as an avid fan that makes me a bit pathetic. Especially since she came in like end of 4th season, right?

Funny story is that she actually has a phD in physics or whatever, so she is what she plays.

Though she's probably a bit less awkward.

Music: You should go here: April McLean's Head Over Heels such a great song but only on myspace and itunes.

and the youtube that has it is all fanvideos.

sappy and gross and blah.

"After All" Saving Abel

love this one.

OUT!

singing my life with his words...

Well now I officially feel old.

But still inspired.

Today marked my two year employment with the library.

Originally I was at one, then two, now back to one but it's the other one, if that makes sense.

I started as an Aide at the home branch exactly two years ago today, so it was a happy coincidence that I got to spend all day there today with my former bosses, one scheduled (Glee-Loving Boss) and one that stopped by (Sensei).

Took me back a bit, I still remember my first big assignment on the new job. Three hole punching the bottoms of plastic library bags because that way if a kid puts one over their head they'll still be able to breathe.

It was some sort of legal issue I guess.

I can still picture the look on Glee-Loving Boss's face when he said and I quote, "I know this is ridiculous but..." So I spent the majority of the day in the backroom poking holes into bags and more of the same the next day, except it was me and the other aide - the kid who's no longer a kid - and this time we put bookmarks in the bags.

So you know, if they decided to put it over their head they'd at least be able to look at something pretty whilst still being able to breathe because there are holes for that.

After that it was sorting carts, well items on carts, cause if you put them in the right order on the cart you can put them on the right order on the shelf.

And even if you couldn't do that they all had orange tags in them so they'd be easy to find on the shelves when the boss made the rounds.

But I got to find my purpose in life in the process and meet some pretty great people along the way.

So I brought cookies for the backroom. Half of them are gone by now, and with Space Cadet and her carb addiction who knows if there will be any left by the morning. HA!

I know this post should be doubly long as I skipped out last night.

To be fair I konked out at like 10, and this is even after the boyfriend came to visit.

I was zonked, for serious.

But today I was actually awake and coherent the whole day.

Which was good because at around 4:30 all hell broke loose.

No seriously, we went from 5 people to around 60 all needing help at once. It was ridiculously busy and Glee-Loving Boss and myself envisioned our recovery shift getting there at 6 and them seeing us flee the building for the sake of sanity.

But we stuck it out. We're tough like that. Besides it all calmed down by the time they got there and I got to tell Space Cadet all about life at its current state, aka meeting the parentals, Vegas... apparently the fact that I have a boyfriend and the fact that he's still around is widely appealing.

I shall have to tell him that later.

Unless of course he reads this, then I'm telling him now.

So if you're reading this, congratulations, people like you and are glad you're still around.

If not then I'm talking to myself, which really wouldn't be a shock factor.

Scale of Awesome time.

So I watched We Bought A Zoo.

Simply fantastic.

Real heart-warmer and all that, but it was comedic and real and just a really good root for the underdogs kind of story.



Basically his wife dies and everything around the house and around town reminds him of her so when his son is expelled they go house shopping and find this house that's perfect, only catch is that it's a zoo. And by buying the land he is also buying the zoo. So he decides to reinstate it to its former glory and all that with a lot of bumps along the road.

I'm gonna give it about a 9/10, and I highly recommend it. Matt Damon is great, showing he can do comedy, drama and action - not action in this but you know you've got Bourne and all that.

Speaking of Bourne, am I the only one looking forward to the new Bourne movie? I love Jeremy Renner.

I know he's not Jason Bourne! But that's the point!! He's a different agent entirely, stop freaking out! They'll bring Matt Damon back when he's ready to do another movie. Geez crazies.

Sorry, where was I? Oh right, Scarlett Johansson is quickly rising in the Scale of Awesome meter of you know awesomeness and she's like serious zookeeper woman in this who has no outside life cause she's always there. And then you've got Thomas Haden Church as the protective accountant brother, a bunch of crazy staff members, plus the two kids who couldn't be more different from each other and it's all based on a true story! With a book to go with it!

And the line in the trailer about him having more hair than the other dads is a joke since the actual Benjamin Mee is in fact bald.

I love his line about 20 seconds of insane courage, great life motto.

So go watch it. Rent it, buy it, check it out, whatever, just do it cause it's fantastic.

I'm excited, I get to semi-sleep in tomorrow. Sort of. I start late cause I'm off late, helping out with a middle school visit that isn't actually a school visit, it sounds a bit like a school carnival or end of the year event thing, so we're going to promote library stuff I guess. I've never done one before so I guess I'll find out.

But I've got the awesomeness that is Girlscout with me so she'll get me through it. Plus I think the intern is going which is cool as she's in the same masters program I'm in. Seems pretty cool so far so it should be fun.

Things on my to-do-list:

Yes the ever-growing and never disappearing to-do-list.

-Finish editing friends stories, making that a priority as it took me like 5 months to get through one and that's awful. Usually it's more like 2 weeks but apparently library life keeps me pretty busy.

-Format Camp J songbook, how long has that been on the list that I've been putting off? Seriously? Just do it woman, the stuff is already uploaded all you have to do is space out the notes to match the lyrics.

-Buy 200 juice boxes. Okay that one's a little more complicated, but it's for the kickoff, and I also need to buy more candycorn while I'm at it. Also for the kickoff, don't ask I'm sure I'll ramble plenty about it when it comes around. Target man, Target. Screw HyVee I tried that already. Go here: Sharkey walks the plank

-Come up with Camp J application form that one I also have a deadline for since the meeting is on Saturday afternoon. I'm stoked! We're thinking of driving out to camp to check out the new digs. They built a new cafeteria/craft building with storm shelters and air conditioning. Now everyone's gonna wanna work in the kitchen and that never happens.

I'm sure there's more but I'm totally blanking.

I should sleep, as exciting as sleeping in sounds you have to actually fall asleep for it to take place.

"Yesterday" Adam Levine and Tony Lucca

love it.

"Killing Me Softly" Katrina Parker

he picked tony anyway, but i thought katrina was great, really grew on me throughout the competition.

but i'm all for the underdogs.

"Hi, my name is Adam and I'm gonna sell you a car right now. I NEED you on my team!"

I kicked it old school today, jammed at the home branch with the Queen of Awesome and Joe Studley with special appearances by Sensei and John Boy.

Was cool, got to do the whole deal, bookdrop, holds list, opening, delivery, lunch break, covering for a lunch break, then help John Boy prep for a computer class and took off at 6.

Righteous man, I miss it there.

It's a totally different atmosphere.

As cheesy as that sounds, it is completely different.

This is a neighborhood library, small building, small patron base, slow pace. The work branch is the complete opposite. 4 floors, huge patron base, frantic pace, and there are other branches that are even bigger and more frantic.

Was great going back, had flashbacks.

So here are your reference fact or crap for the day.

-Racecar driver Lee Petty once left a pitstop and did a full lap at Nascar with a pit crew member still on the hood.

- In West Virginia you cannot fly a red flag in front of your house if you are disappointed in your sheriff.

- In Hong Kong a betrayed wife is legally allowed to kill her cheating adulterous husband but she may only do so with her bare hands.

- Charlie Chaplin once won third prize in a Charlie Chaplin lookalike contest.

- Bees have five eyes.

- Farmers in England are required by law to provide their pigs with toys.

- Plastic law flamingos outnumber real ones in the US.

- Virginia Woolf wrote all her books standing.

- At the end of the Beatles song "A Day in the Life" an ultrasonic whistle audible only to dogs was recorded by McCartney for his dog.

- According to a study men prefer white bedrooms and women prefer blue ones.

- When movie directors don't want their names to be seen in the credits they use the pseudonym Allen Smithee instead. It's been used over 50 times.

- Apparently the boyfriend thinks unpacking groceries is sexy.

Not.

But I did get some good food at Target, plus some camp stuff woohoo! Then came home to watch The Voice, Juliet all the way! Though I'm thinking it'll be either Tony or Jermaine.

Sad to see Katrina and Jamar go, but they'll keep going. Now that they have fans. Lots of artists from the first season got record deals. I'll look forward to Jordis'. I'm attempting to get Rockstar INXS from Interlibrary Loan as they highlights were put out on DVD. And she was on it, got 5th, with dreads. But cut 'em off after all that.

So my cat is giving me a massage. It's amusing. He does this frequently, then he bites me. As kind of a hello, I'm still here. In charge. Just cause you think you're the boss doesn't make it true.

Okay, well the fact or crap is my humor for the day. I'll hit you with more tomorrow.

"Oh Darling" Juliet Simms
gotta show some support. dare you to find one person who isn't completely blown away by this performance. or Roxanne. love that Adam gets really into it. i love her voice, it's just so different and gravely and awesome.
Team Cee-Lo is actually pretty dangerous with her, though I'm not sure she can beat the fanbase supporting Tony Lucca or Jermaine Paul. Would be interesting if the operatic Chris Mann wins it.

As for now I'm for Team Juliet, even though Christina is my favorite. Adam and Blake come in at a close second.

"Who put a shark in my mailbox?"

Okay, giving the Scandal pilot a fourth chance.

It's excellent!!

Except I keep falling asleep.

I start it too late.

But tomorrow I don't have to go in until noon so I can stay up later.

Showed up today and checked my mailbox, like any other day. And there was a shark eyepatch in it. I was completely lost, couldn't figure out where it came from. Asked everyone I ran into if they knew anything about it and got nothing. Then finally recognized the handwriting on the interdepartmental envelope and it hit me. Queen of Awesome. and I should have known cause it was awesome. So it could only have only originated from her.

Squirt and Bubby's play was tonight. She was the fairy godmother attorney and he was the big bad wolf on trial.

Both had solo's, his was a rap, hysterical. They rocked it.

Reminded me of when we did the Trial of the Big Bad Wolf. With the "weasel sidestep" and the forever famous "yeah yeah the jury...yeah yeah the jury..."

19 years later and it's still stuck in my head.

Before the play was a dinner and a silent auction - i got cookies and a chair it's exciting - before all that was work, during that it was mostly desk stuff and some circ room check-in. Plus registering for inservice.

Oh inservice.

Last year someone said they'd rather have a colonoscopy than go, but it wasn't so bad.

Plus this year Sensei is presenting so I gotta go to that.



Ohhh, so that's why Olivia left the whitehouse and went on her own...got it.

Good show you should check it out.

I wanna be a gladiator in a suit.


Other than that today did some homework so I'm good for a couple of weeks, however I have a huge project due on the 21st that I haven't started yet. Woops.

On to tomorrow which is volunteer recognition, gotta dress up and all that. Catered food of awesomeness, plus some prizes and all that for the TAB kids.

Should be fun.


I know, I'm sorry this is a boring post. I'll make it up to you tomorrow.

Wait, she cleared his reputation but that's it? I guess it's not their job to figure out who the real killer is. I'm used to watching crime shows, it's messing with my head.

Song of the night:

"Forever and For Always" Shania Twain feat. Alison Krause

love the harmony on this one.

I feel like I'm forgetting to post something. Drove from home to library. Bought new headphones. Shark in the mailbox. Went to the church for the play. Ate supper. Watched them dominate in their roles, I think Squirt enjoyed calling her brother names and telling him to shutup - she was the prosecution attorney so she was all over it. Came back to apartment turned on Scandal. Posting.

Still posting.

Continue to post.

Til I'm done.

Which is now.

Night!

She's just the Flavor of the Weak

It was a day of assorted celebrations.

1. I SAW SPACE CADET TODAY!!

We had this database training at a branch that a bunch of us went to - I carpooled with Superwoman which is good cause I would have gotten lost in all that construction.

It was funny cause Space Cadet walked up to Superwoman and smiled and I ran at her. Superwoman was like "I thought she was smiling at me!" I almost tackled her. We sat together for the presentation. It was pretty fun. She gave me movie tickets and coupons, she knows me all too well.

I miss my Home Branch people man, I only get to see Joe Studley when I'm there and he's fun, but he's just one member of our gang. Even the Queen of Awesome is back at work! I haven't seen her since sushi months ago!

The database presentation was actually pretty helpful. I think there were about 20 of us there, plus more go tomorrow. The dude was a little weird, kept coming up with random searches and we figured out we were the raunchy bunch. Which was amusing.

But he did bring us cupcakes. One of them was maple bacon flavored. Seriously?

There was this segment on Rachel Ray once called, "I bet you didn't know you could wrap THAT in bacon." It's times like these that I'm reminded of that.

Also when my favorite Sister-In-Law brought little smokies wrapped in bacon to trivia night. That was awesome.

The database might actually prove useful on Sketch and Edit's Excellent Adventure, I'm stoked. 3 days! Gotta find places to eat and walk around and all that.

2. Heard back about a possible Summer Reading presentation.

Our theme for teens deals with night and darkness and all that. I took a Criminology class in college and I remember a cop who came to talk to us about forensics. I got the contact info from my prof and got in touch with the cop. She got back to me today, super exciting!

Think the kids will have fun with it, it was a lot of fun in college to learn about blood spatter, fingerprints, moldings and all that.

Plus Mentor was proud of me for taking initiative.

3. Then, I got a letter from the mayor.

Yes, the mayor, congratulating me for perfect attendance in 2011. I know, right?!
I opened it and was like "what?!"

Cause I never call in sick.

And when I do get sick it's on my day off.

Freaking Coach Otte and his "it's all mental" motto.

Stuck with me.

Power through it, it's what we do.

Though I've already killed mine for this year since I've been sick already in January. Bummer man.

After all that I got to jam with my cat and watch the rest of SVU season eight. Sensei is right, not only would Stabler be gone they'd all be gone. Except maybe Munch. Cause he's more about conspiracies than violence. The season finale was huge, bringing back Ludacris who digs up all their dirty little secrets. Big ending.

And of course I have to wait until the next season comes in on interlibrary loan. Which will be a few weeks. So I'll have to distract myself with something else.

Right now I'm back to American Pickers.

Something is seriously seriously wrong when I'm watching this and Red Green and Swamp People when my father isn't even around to make me watch them.

Sooner or later I'll be sitting here watching HeeHaw by myself.

When it comes to that point, someone please promise me you will change the channel.

Seriously.

Moving on, for tonight's music rec's of awesomeness.

"Here In Your Arms" Hellogoodbye

90's summer camp.

"Flavor of the Weak" American Hi-Fi

one of my favorites growing up


OUT!

I've got the moves like Jagger.

Dear Blogspot,

Today I rocked it.

Got to use my new coffee machine this morning, well, my parents' old one cause they got a new one, but it's NEW TO ME so I'm calling it new. Anyway, it has a timer so it was ready when I woke up, awesomeness. Grabbed some fruit and hit the road.

Opened up first floor, finished up the YA project, worked at the desks, answered reference phone calls, restocked the displays, did supply rounds, wrote up a book recommendation, checked in 6 carts in an hour, then stopped by the home library after work to see Space Cadet and my Trainee.

Was good to have the Space Cadets reunited. I haven't seen her since I worked there. Like, as in the last time we worked together. Which has probably been months, since I was just down to Tuesday and Thursday nights for a while - neither of them with her.

Anyway, I walked in wearing my "Tundra hat" - present from the Cool Aunt that Slim Shady says makes me look like I'm headed for a tundra, i like it - and Space Cadet did the best doubletake ever. It was nice. Walking passed with a cart as I walk in the door, looks over, keeps walking, stops walking and looks again. HI!

We talked ipods, family, cooking, library stuff.

She enjoys that someone bought me a subscription to a cooking magazine, and claims it wasn't her. I still have no idea who did it, but once I do it's on.

I miss my home branch.

It's a completely different atmosphere there. I got to know my coworkers there a lot more than my current work branch ones just because it's slower there so you talk more. Plus they have longer hours.

And I'm getting to know my current ones, they're fantastic as well.

I draw mazes for Slim Shady on my breaks. We go out for movies and food.

Fearless Leader likes my Firefly t-shirts. We talk blogs, books, movies, and dating.

Info-Man and me talk Huskers and recommendations.

John Boy teaches me all about comics, I'm learning people.

Mentor tells me all about the joys of working with teens, and shows me the ropes to talking over teen programs.

The Reference Queen always checks in to make sure I know how to do things, aka processes that I wasn't exactly trained to do but am still doing them because no one else is.

Queen of the Known Universe always makes me laugh, we talk Criminal Minds, Big Bang Theory, and crazy people.

Super Librarian Status always gives me good philosophies for life, such as "it's not possible to drink all the liquor in town, i've tried it."

Big Brother always watches out for creepers staring at me and gives me excuses to leave the desk when one approaches.

Girlscout and I talk derby, food, library everything and somehow she's always hard at work in the staff room whenever I go in there.

Superwoman is always watching out for me, period.

The New Guy and I joke about anything that's going on at the time.

The New Girl seems to always ask me questions about processes instead of other people, I'm flattered.

Cabin Fever who I joke with about writing a book about life experiences entitled "What Was I Thinking: The Hindsight Bias" and told me to tell creepers I talk to snakes so they're scared away.

The Aides and myself always joke around and talk about starting an Aides Union - as I used to be one and now I'm an advocate.

So yes, I do like my new coworkers. But I miss the old ones as well.

Sensei who I talked The Closer, Criminal Minds, NCIS, really any TV show.

Glee-Loving Boss who calls me to tell me that Temperature Tuesdays have started at Runza.

Queen of Awesome who lets me hold Maximus Awesomus, aka the Spawn of Awesome. And goes out for sushi and drinks.

Joe Studley who I can talk to about anything, and who does impressions just to cheer me up.

Space Cadet who's always teasing me about cooking. We talk about my tech-nerd-ness and her no-tech-ness. And occasionally yell out "you want an e-reader!" for no reason.

Trainee who I actually occasionally get to see since she's doing now what I was doing before, except I was an aide at the home branch and an LSA at the work branch. She's that in reverse. We talk sports, life, crazy people, etc.

Yes, I like my coworkers. All of them. That's why it's hard to leave. That's why I don't plan on leaving anytime soon.

I'm actually looking forward to inservice day so I get to jam with everyone at the same time.

What was I talking about before this whole rambling things got started?

Oh right.

Today.

I think we're finally off vacation-mode since we're fully functional.

Or seem to be.

Today was just weird reference-wise, I had this phone call asking for an address and everywhere I looked gave me different information. At first the addresses were different, then the middle initials were different, then the phone numbers were different, then she wanted to talk to someone else cause apparently I wasn't helpful. Though she didn't say that, she just said is there anyone else there. Info-man to the rescue. He told her the same things that I did and she listened to him!! Seriously? Then she called back!

Anyway, aside from that I rocked it. Though technically I rocked that since he just said the same things that I said. Maybe I need to sound more experienced. Or authoritative. Or something. Distinguished.

I'll work on that.

In the meantime,

"Moves Like Jagger" Maroon 5 feat. Christina Aguilera

dig it. my niece - the youngest one, she's like two - sings this. "got the moves like jagger, got the moves like jagger, got the moves like jagger..." i taped it and put it as my ringtone. hilarious.

We'll see if I'll still have moves like Jagger tomorrow.

Here's the Red Green philosophy for the day:
The faster you go the more you miss. As you get older you're gonna realize that we're all pretty much heading for a brick wall. The question is, how hard do you wanna hit it?


OUT!

Dashing through the melted snow, in some untied tennis shoes

YES! My shoes are untied!

And I'm AWARE of it!

You don't have to tell me this, I'm aware that they are untied because they've been untied ALL DAY!

Because everytime I tie them they just come loose again anyway! So I've just stopped tying them!

The number of people letting me know about this has become exponential. At first it was amusing, up to 8 people in one hour - but I work public service and am constantly walking all over the floor, stocking the displays and helping people find things - now it's like, I'm aware but I still say,
"ah man, should really work on that." Cause I'm tired of saying
"woops, i'll fix those."

Mom actually called me out on it at the home library a few weeks ago. She showed up and they weren't tied, she said she wasn't surprised cause they were never tied when I was little either. Some things never change. I trip over things whether my shoes are tied or not. So what's the point in tying them if they're just going to become untied 2 minutes later and I have re-ty them again? Plus, that whole double-knot thing? Too obnoxious to get untied when I actually need them to be untied.

Totally bummed, it was my last official day, well night, at the home library. I won't be scheduled there unless either someone calls in sick, or Superwoman decides they need an extra night person. Which was what I was doing before, but now people are hired and all that stuff has been sorted out. Sad day. Not sad that they have new people, that's good, but sad that I won't get to spend my Tuesday nights there, jamming out with Joe Studley. But I'll still visit. Especially once the QofA comes back, which should be some time in January. Plus I gotta stop in to see Space Cadet and talk about all her new technology, I'm so proud. But Glee-Loving Boss can continue to give me crap about flu shots, because I will now see him since I'm in Youth Services and all that jazz.

It's a whole different place there anyway, since Sensei is gone, and QofA is on leave. Plus I never see Space Cadet since we're never scheduled together and I only catch glimpses of Glee-Loving Boss. So it was basically just me and Joe Studley, though I did run into the Awesome Temp when she left and I got there. The new shelver is fantastic. She's also an Aide at the work library so it's cool to get to talk to her about home library stuff. I think she's got it all figured out, they're all caught up so I'm talking to her about projects and stuff I did when there was nothing to shelve.

Otherwise, I was totally productive today. Got all the way through the supply cabinet in the workroom, which sounds like it's a small thing, but it took over an hour and a half to just to sort through and list everything that was on 3 shelves. After that it was lab desk supplies and second floor desk as well. All that's left is all of first floor... basically the supply desk in the backroom, the public service desks, youth services, the basement, and then everywhere where this is a printer or copier or supplies for a printer or copier. But I have tomorrow and Thursday for that.

Aside from that I wrote out my Christmas letters, I just need to send them, then ordered my textbook for class in January and some cool t-shirts plus Second Sister's Christmas present - I'm actually excited about that one. Not that I'm not excited about my other presents, it's just this one has a whole story behind it. I'll post more about it after she's opened it.

Alright, on to the rec's of the night.

Christmas Music that Doesn't Suck: Day Seven

"Jingle Bells" Glee Cast version

love the changeup on this one.

or you could listen to this version:

"Jingle Bombs" Achmed the Dead Terrorist - Jeff Dunham

"and then my favorites SILENCE! night."
okay, in order to understand that you should probably watch this: Achmed the Dead Terrorist If you haven't already.
and if you like that there's a new one where you meet his son AJ Achmed and AJ I especially like when his feet get messed up and they make Guitar Guy come fix them.

"Walking in a Winter Wonderland" Dean Martin

he's a classic.

alright, out for the night. long day tomorrow. hard to believe it's already the 20th, christmas will soon be upon us. i'm actually glad we're not having our family christmas until the 1st, it's like christmas won't be over right away after the 25th. it's cool to have it extended.

OUT!

Happy Christmas, War is Over

Today was pretty much a rollercoaster ride.

It was an early morning, in an extremely overheated computer lab, so I felt sick and like I was going to pass out for a good chunk of the day. After lunch I was okay, just nervous for this afternoon.

This afternoon I met up with my uncle to talk about insurance stuff. Turns out, wasn't as hard as I'd thought it would be. And apparently, our insurance is awesome. This coming from an insurance man. So he would know. And he was fantastic, I went in clueless and he explained everything in words that I could actually understand. It's like a weight off my mind.

All I have to do is fill in the rest of the paperwork and I'm gold, huzzah!

I've started saying that a lot lately. It's either "do this and you're gold" or "you're golden". No idea why I'm bringing it back, I haven't said it since college. Maybe it's that gold star thing in my head again. In one of my sociology classes we had this assignment, it was in the syllabus but the professor had never brought it up in class. When we showed up that day, she asked if any of us had done it. I raised my hand, along with a select few and her response was, "Stars! Golden stars!" and that was it, we moved on. I think it was like a 2 page paper so it wasn't a big deal, but still. Amusing.

Apparently when I say things like that it makes me sound smart. I'm not smart. Well, I mean, not like genius smart, though a certain person claims to think I am just because I had/have a high GPA. But see, once you're in college and you're taking the upper level courses you know what you're doing and you know what the professors want so if you're able to BS - which is basically what English majors do for a living - then you're golden.

It's like Sensei once said, she wouldn't respect me if I couldn't ramble for a page.

Speaking of gold stars, I totally dropped my nametag three times on the way to work this morning, and of course that only happens when there are puddles everywhere. Didn't even realize the third time until Cabin Fever brought it to me during our computer training seminar thing.

So that was pretty much my day, got to talk to Grams for a while which was cool. She's always excited when I go and visit, and I get to see her again soon because our family pitch tournament is on the 23rd, woohoo! I'm picking her up and driving her over because the Cool Aunt has way too much on her plate for that night. AND though she rarely asks for help, she did in this case so I'm TAKING the invitation and RUNNING with it!

It's like trying to pay for food with my family. It's war. I paid for sushi last time, I was sneaky and left my debit card on the table for easy access when she brought the check. This time I don't even get the option because in the invite e-mail she specifically says she's buying and I have no choice in that matter. Geez. Flashbacks to when I was living with Grams. The two of them, when the check came, man they were devious. Plus, you throw in my mother along with them? It was highly amusing, and at that time in life I was broke so I went with it.

Alright, the countdown has began, and now that that whole alphabet fiasco or fun-tastic (or whatever you want to call it) is over, I figured I'd treat you guys to some excellent Christmas music. None of that crappy overplayed stuff...okay, well some, but these are the versions that aren't as crappy as the crappy ones that are constantly playing over and over. Not that classics are crappy. Cause, I mean, they're not. If they were total crap then they wouldn't be playing. And then they wouldn't be classics. And then I wouldn't know them. I'm getting rambly again, make it stop.

Okay, nutshell, Christmas Music until Christmas Day that isn't crap.

How's that? I'll call it:

Non-crappy Christmas Music: Day One.

That title is likely to change by Day Two.

Here we go.

Pat a Pan - Mannheim Steamroller

Nebraska Band of awesomeness. I grew up listening to their Christmas CD's on repeat around the holidays. This was my favorite, though it makes me sad every time. It's amazing how much emotion you can convey in a song with no words.

Auld Lange Syne - The Lonesome Travelers

yes i'm aware it's 2011. go with it. only video i could find of this version. it's fantastic if you take the time to listen to it. i could never play like that, ever.

Happy Christmas (War is Over) - Maroon 5

my sister is obsessive over this band, and now I understand why. they're fantastic. i had to buy a bunch of their stuff off itunes, i'm totally hooked.

I figured with this one it was good timing.
President Obama's Speech from CNN.com
"You have lived through the fires of war, and you will be remembered for it, and honored for it - always." -Obama 2011

I'm so glad we had this time together.

Well, that sucked.

I learned today that I'm a crazy emotional girl.

So I spent the majority of my day doing what crazy emotional girls do.

I figured it was my last day, so I had an excuse.

And I had this whole thing planned out to say. About how we're a family. Now it just makes me sad, but I should say it anyway.

The father (Glee-Loving Boss) who watches out for everyone, teases them about getting flu shots, jokes with you about Glee.

The mom (Sensei) who's a genius about family histories, and who you can joke about anything with, especially anything involving The Closer, Criminal Minds, or Jay Leno.

The cool aunt (Space Cadet) who you debate about things like sea cows and snow leopards. And bond over things like breadsticks, pizza, and morning shifts.

The older brother (Joe Studley) whose knowledge of movie and music trivia will make your head spin. Who'll do voice impersonations just to make you laugh.

The older sister (Queen of Awesome) who keeps you sane in times of crazy, who you can count on when you need someone to talk to or a night out for sushi.

The younger brother (the Quiet One) who makes you laugh and steps up when you need them to.

And now we've adopted another older sister (Trainee) who you can talk derby, basketball, football, booze cakes, library, practically anything with. Someone who's proud that, when a derby girl walks in and comes to the desk, you're able to remain professional and withhold going all fangirls until said derby girl has left the building.

Originally, I was the shy younger sister. Too afraid she was going to screw up to stand up for herself.

But, with the assistance of everyone listed above, I've definitely grown into something completely different. And I'm grateful for each one of them and their guidance and support for more than a year now. I will miss them all.

And I know, I'll still be around a few nights a week, but that's different.

Walking out of there tonight was different.

Tomorrow is my first full day as a 40hr professional.

But I'll always remember my first day as an Aide. Spent half of it in the back room, three-hole-punching the bottoms of plastic bags, because apparently tiny children might think it's fun to put them over their heads. I can still hear Glee-Loving Boss saying, "I know this is ridiculous, but..."

That was just the start of what became a crazy and exciting year-and-a-half long journey to where we are now.

And I'm grateful for the experience.

"This Time Together" Show Finale


I figured, for the night, I'd hit you with a collection of some of the songs I'd sing while shelving.

I'll call it "Songs of the Shelver" much like those collections you see advertised late at night or on Who's Line is it Anyway, except these have their actual lyrics.

"All My Ex's Live In Texas" George Strait


"6 Months" Hey Monday live/acoustic


"Where Oh Where" HeeHaw


Random assortment, I'm aware. But those are just three of the many. Perhaps tomorrow I'll post some more.

Tomorrow.

Big day.

A year and a half in the life of me.

Five years ago, if you would have told me that I'd be working full-time in a library, and getting my Master's in Library Science, I would have just stared at you. Heck, if you would have told me that two years ago I probably would have stared.

It's just not where I saw myself going.

Not that I really had a plan.

Or a backup plan.

I didn't like to think about the future and what it entailed. My high school roommate and I actually lovingly referred to it as "the F word" because I hated it so.

I'd try to make lists of places I could go to college, jobs I could maybe tolerate.

Librarian was nowhere on my list of things I might consider doing in the F word. (which sounds vaguely dirty but really isn't.)

It's amazing how much one person can affect your life.

Especially when you don't even know them.

You meet them at your cousin's graduation party and you talk for half an hour about the Library Science Program. Get along so well that you plan to meet up for coffee a few weeks later. That's when you learn about their caffeine addiction which you don't exactly hinder by bringing them coffee every class period.

Soon you're sending in a resume and an application form, not expecting to get three different phone calls about coming in to interview. You're used to sending out resumes as a part of a Placement Seminar Class that requires you to participate in fake interviews with real professionals. Find references. Build a portfolio.

Be an adult.

It's that class that got you the job.

Well, that and the Library Goddess.

So you go in to interview. Ramble a lot, fidget with your clothes. You know, do exactly what you were told not to do in an interview. Although you did cut down on the jewelry, black fingernail polish and hand gestures.

And then you wait patiently by the phone for a few days waiting to hear back, when you get the call offering you two jobs instead of one.

Which shocks even you.

Because you didn't expect the same woman to be supervisor at both branches you were interviewing at separately. (You later hear stories of "you can't hire her, I was going to hire her!")

You remember this next part in detail because it was kind of a big moment in life.

You're on the phone with the woman you will in the future refer to as "Superwoman" and jumping up and down in your bedroom, then remember that you're on the phone so you sit. And fidget. Because that's much quieter than knocking something down in your sudden fit of energy.

After you get off the phone you run outside to find your mother, who's about half a mile from home, doing her usual morning walk. She speeds up when she sees you, knowing exactly why you're walking quickly toward her.

"Which one did you get?" she yells.

"Both!" you yell back.

"WHAT?"

Yeah. You were confused too.

The next call you make? The Cool Aunt. These jobs are in fact her fault. She was the one to introduce you to the Library Goddess in the first place. You had plans that night with her to see "Date Night" and eat sushi. You nonchalantly mention your previous phone conversation and she flips. It would be a serious celebration evening. "I don't want the kids to live with your mother, she's awful!" quoted repeatedly on the way out of the theater.

In the meantime you've called both sisters, your brother happens to show up at the house - which he often does since he farms with your dad and lives half a mile away. After hearing the news he looks at you, says "you must really interview well" referring to your utter lack of work experience, and goes out to work. Thanks for that, by the way.

So you go in, sign all the paperwork, move in with your sister, start work at one branch first, putting books in order on carts, shelving books sideways with colored tags sticking out the sides to be checked they're in the right place. A few weeks later you start at the second branch, finding it more chaotic than the original. You got the slow mornings where no one really expected you to be a morning person although you suspiciously became one, and the fast afternoons to keep you busy and entertained by all the crazy locals.

And that's when you realize that these were the places you were meant to be.

With these people, in this town, in this library system.

You find an apartment, move in with your big fat cat. (your parents secretly cheer because lack of a certain feline means they can get new carpet) Order cable and internet.

So, you work at both branches for over a year. Get offered a full time position at one of the branches, forcing you to leave the other. Your home library. Sure, you'll still be a special guest star there every once in a while, couple nights a week for now. But it won't be the same.

No more singing George Strait while shelving in the jNonfiction section. No more morning Space Cadets with Space Cadet. Listening to storytimes by your Glee-Loving Boss. Hearing about endless trivia from Joe Studley. Joking around with the Queen of Awesome. Talking TV with Sensei. Shelving with the Quiet One. Sorting out holds for the lone adult volunteer. Who now, when she calls, asks to speak with you.

You're a family. So that sucks.

Tomorrow's your last day as an Aide.

Which means you'll be an emotional mess.

And it's not that you're not happy, grateful, even excited for your new job. You love those people and that place too. But it'll never be your home library. Your first real job. Your first real work family.

You try to rationalize, that you're not actually losing your home library. You'll still be there a couple nights a week. Be the first one on the list to go cover if someone is sick. Can stop by since you're off at six and they don't close until eight.

And that's fine.

Or, it will be fine.

You'll make it fine.

So you'll be there tomorrow, 2-8. For your last day.

Trying not to cry in the jNonfiction section.


"No Envy, No Fear" Joshua Radin


"Bring on the Wonder" Susan Enan

put some music on that's soft and slow...

Superwoman owes me lunch.

Or some points.

I'm up to 138 as of today. Mostly because of our administrative aide claiming I deserved them - apparently The Powers That Be know of the the point system. Fantastic, love it.

Today was actually pretty cool. Slept in, worked on some homework statistics stuff, ate lunch, headed to work at 1, was mostly banished to the back room - which is fine with me. I actually got a lot accomplished. Spent my break up on 3rd floor talking about demographic statistics for homework. Yes, that's how I spend all my breaks. No, I usually jam in the staff room with my ipod, this time I actually planned out my demographic catagories with the information that our fabulous admin aide was able to share with me. She's amusing, and helpful. The statistics will be a great benefit to the census 2010 crap.

OMG, that website is impossible to navigate! 2000 census was easier. I think I finally got it down though. My problem is that one of my libraries is on the very corner of one of the tract blocks so do I just use the one it's in? or do I add it to the one right next to it? It's not like the people across the street don't use our library! Guess I'll have to add them.

That's my plan, to compare demographics between libraries. But I don't want to do a powerpoint!! They're cliche. And excel is boring. So think I'm gonna look into that infographics thing. I have all tomorrow afternoon. After I get groceries and pay rent.

The rest of the day was pretty fun as well. Got supper then headed to other library from 6-8 to work with the Queen of the Known Universe. and it was hysterical cause it's backwards - I had to train her! When I'm used to her training me! She'd never worked at that branch before so I got to give her the nickel tour and training. Which is going to happen a lot soon since Sensei is retired, Queen of Awesome is on bedrest and my Glee-Loving Boss is on a cruise. It's down to the four of us aka Joe Studley, Spencer and the Space Cadets. And anyone else the branches can spare.

Superwoman had a lot of faith in me. Mostly. Then she called, "How's your spiritual training going?" "AHHHH!! Help me!" QOTKU screamed...jokingly...I hope. I think I'm an okay leader...ish. Parents do trust me with their children for a weekend out in the middle of nowhere. Oh, Camp J. How I miss you already. But you'll start again soon enough.

She has enough faith in me to let me off at 5 on Sunday so I can play softball for the extended season, huzzah!! I'll take that over the points. I guess. We're gonna rock it! I think it's just going to be the same order we played the first three, meaning we'll take on the Methodists at 6:30 and I'll hang around to play with the E-Free against Prince of Peace. If they decide to stick around. They sounded like they were in. Then next week it'll be us vs. Prince of Peace - Battle of the Lutherans on like Donkey Kong - and then after that us vs. E-Free for more awkwardness.

Yeah, when they brought up the extended season E-Free pastor looks at me and G-Wigger saying, "Get ready for a double-header!" I love playing with those guys. And now that I'm smart enough to wear pants hopefully my leg will stay in one piece. Dude, my muscle still stings. That's not good, right? I'll get over it.

Song of the night:
"Your Man" sang by two of my favorites

"i can't believe how much it-OH MY GOD!" haha, freaks out. 16 year old country music prodigy sings with his idol. now he's an american idol. so it matches.

Tomorrow's split shift then homework and errands. Out of the night. Dangit, missed Castle yet again. Will add that to the list of tomorrow's priorities.

WWAFD?

5 whole inches chopped off and it's still long! That's just sad. Space Cadet said to just do highlights, everyone else said dye it red so I split the difference. Dyed it red with blonde highlights. We'll see what they have to say tomorrow.

Donna was excited about the Booze Cakes book and expects pictures when we make them. I'm stoked. Now just gotta find a night that myself, Slim Shady and Fearless Leader are all free. HA!

Today was pretty much the end of an era. Sensei's last day after working in the library system for 35 years. I am super sad to see her go. I enjoyed our conversations about The Closer, Criminal Minds, Jay Leno, and library school. She always had good tips for homework assignments and gave me project ideas for work. The library will be lacking without her. Especially once QofA has her baby and Glee-Loving Boss goes on vacation. Then it'll be just the four of us. Plus some help from my other branch. Oh the joys of training smart people. They'll pick up quickly.

Sensei, we will miss you. Have fun with your retirement.

And, whenever you're struggling, just ask yourself this question.

WWAFD?

See you around.

OUT!

To dye, or not to dye? That is the question.

You know what's really sad?

When you sacrifice your hair color for your job.

Seriously.

I like my fire-engine red hair! And Superwoman approves. But, to some, it seems unprofessional. And, as I work in public service, perhaps that's not the best thing. So, tomorrow, when I go and get my hair dyed and chopped, but mostly dyed, I'm debating just getting highlights. I know! What happened?! Just highlights?! What has working public service done to you?! I'm asking myself those same questions. And I blame it on the night shift.

Tuesday night night-shifts always somehow turn into a debate. Space Cadet and I always have completely random conversations - you can read all about our sea cow vs. snow leopard debate from last week here: My Life in Closed Captions: I guess I'll go on home, it's late. There'll be to... Today the majority of our conversations revolved around my hair color. She doesn't want me to dye it. "But whyyyy? It's so pretty! Just say no!" And then she pulled the ultimate mom question.

"Why does your hair need to be red?"
"Because it does?"
"But why?"
"Because I like it red."
"Why red?"
...

I had no answer. Had to do some soul-searching. All this from hair-dyeing, I know. Seriously? But it was one of those questions. "I don't know, it's just always been red." Which, again, wasn't really an answer. So I'm trying to think of one now.

I wasn't the most popular kid growing up. Grade school was kind of a disaster area and high school was just interesting. Going away to a dorm school and living with the same people 24/7... there has to be some room for rebellion. I found that in my writings and dyeing my hair. Mom is okay with it because it's temporary, unlike tattoos or piercings. Not that she'd have that problem with me, I see a needle and I pass out. Literally.

And it worked for things like One Act and Drama productions. I dyed my hair so many colors - red, blonde, blue, orange, purple, black and back to the original brown we forgot it was. But I liked red because it was way out there.

Plus I was a Charlie's Angels nut and that was Dylan's hair color. Yes, let's blame my hair diagnosis on Drew Barrymore. It's not like my friends don't already blame her for enough of my habits.

But that was then. Well, the Charlie's Angels stuck, but should the hair color? At the time I liked it being so out there. Loud and obnoxious. I wore my headphones and skater clothes, talked my idiot slang talk, made friends with some interesting characters, picked up some bad habits. But am I really that person anymore? Am I supposed to be? I'm a professional now. Getting my Master's. Working two jobs. Running a kids camp.

I'm over-thinking things. I should just dye it and get it over with. Actually have one thing in my life that's the old me. Instead of the public service me. Which apparently has made me both a social person and semi-morning friendly. And do things like debate highlights vs. hair dye.

Like I said, over-thinking. So, why red? Why does it define me? It's loud and obnoxious. It sticks out in a crowd. It makes me quirky and gives my family plenty of ammo to throw at me.

Aren't you supposed to stick out in public service anyway? The chick that interviews people for OPL says she wouldn't hire anyone who picked "invisible" as their super power. You're supposed to be seen and out there helping people.

And librarians are known for being way out there. With our green tea and literature references. Although my grammar is still atrocious. On purpose mostly. So perhaps red hair would be the right choice.

I guess it'll be up to Donna tomorrow. Maybe she can point me in the right direction. Hmmm...

Quote of the day:
"You text her after hours?"
"She texts me asking if Castle is new!"

Pics of the Week:

fun with faulty equipment. this is what happens when the receipt printer suddenly decides to start working after not working for half an hour.


paparazzi! a picture of taking a picture of taking a picture of taking a picture of... from Sensei's going away party. We rocked the place tonight, the parking lot was packed.


our very own Vanna White


QofA and Space Cadet hard at work

Sensei's party was a blast. More on that tomorrow. Her last official day. I might actually cry. She's fanstastic. And we're going to go insane without her.


what I came home to tonight. *hand over eyes* "geez mom, just dye your hair red already. i know you just want to be as cool as me." yeah, maybe i'll add in a bullseye on the side.

Alright, off to feed my super cool cat and eat some supper myself.

OUT!

Feel the city breakin' and everybody shakin' and we're stayin' alive, stayin' alive...

Crazy crazy day. I thought 9-12, you know, whatever. Nope. 9-12 bookdrop, lists and shelving. PS - SENSEI is BACK! And rockin' it. With a bedazzled cast. Now who could have provided those...hmmm... looks vaguely familiar. Not mine. Haven't had a cast since grade school. Ace bandages and braces don't count, right?

Okay, 9-12 there, ate lunch at the apartment while finishing/posting my homework, then headed back to my old stomping grounds. It's weird going back now. Which is funny, because it never used to feel that way. I loved high school. With a passion. How many people can say that honestly? It's part of the reason that I hated college. With a passion. It wasn't high school. It wasn't the same. Dorms didn't count. But I loved the school and the sports and the drama productions and the people and the choirs and the teachers - it was fantastic. And going back for Homecoming was just a natural thing, great to see everyone again. Now it's like, ehhh. I think I'm beyond the years of going just to go. I think it'd have to be a reunion thing. Although we know what happened with that...
ANYWAY, so I went back and watched Squirt and Bubby kick some volleyball butt and of course got talked into being a line judge. By the same dude who talked me into night patrol at camp. He's just so freaking persuasive that you don't see it coming. So I couldn't cheer even though - okay i ain't saying who were the best people out on the court. if they happened to be a tall chick with orange streaks in her hair and a short blonde who's nicknames just happened to be Squirt and Bubby, then that's just the way it is. That's not nepitism. That's fact. You'd agree if you had seen the game.
But Squirt is not an actual squirt. She's taller than me. And in 8th grade. So when it comes to being dominant in sports she takes the cake. Cause no matter how hard they hit it, if it comes in her direction she'll just smack it down on their heads. Cause they're tiny. Our team included. My favorite part was our first point, she set it to Bubby who spiked it over. It was fantastic. But I couldn't cheer! Cause I was a freaking unbiased line judge. Mean. I was tempted to do the Willems point and pose method, but I passed. Cause, like I said, time has passed and no one would know what the heck I was referring to. Unless he still does it. Which I guess is highly possible.
After that we ran like The Flash to get out of there cause Bubby had football practice and they were going to be late. So hit up my apartment, then Barnes and Noble where I found not one, not two, but three freaking different cover copies of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. I mean I know that Halloween is coming up and all that, but still.
Same book, different prices.
Check these.






The first is a pop-up book. I know! I was intrigued...The fourth is my copy. Yes, those are my lucky charms in the background. Anthology's are awesome. Is it anthologies or anthology's? I'm going with the apostrophe. It seems safer. No idea why. But that's what you use when you're a lit major reading eight classic novels a month.
Speaking of anthology's, picked up H.G. Wells' seven novels in one book today as well. The real H.G. Wells, not the Warehouse version. although if Jaime Murray were to write a book I'm sure I would read it. And review it. And make you all read it. Because she's just that awesome. OMG, Jane Lynch's biography is out and in stores now, huzzah! Coming to a library near you?

After the joy that is shopping for books and realizing that I've shelved over half of that store, headed for the brewery, ordered some awesome food - I'm super stoked for my leftovers. Thinking of pulling them out now, but going to put that off until around 2 or 3AM. Yes, small children sleep more than I do. Get over it. But I love my family and the food was awesome so tonight was fun. Interesting conversations though. Our server was charming and handsome and had no ring - is that part of the single life, that you just check for that automatically? Which, I guess, technically that doesn't work anyway since I wear a ring on that finger that looks like it could be one but really isn't. So that method is totally totally not...what's the word I'm looking for? correct? ACCURATE. let's go with that. But mine scares off the creepers at work so I'm okay with it. Anyway, Second Sister ordered a drink and he goes
"You do know there's no liquor in that."
"You do know that I'm pregnant right?"
apparently he had offended women in the past so he's more careful now. Wise man.

PS - Smo, T-Magic was there. And it was hilarious because Second Sister - who's just not a fan of football whatsoever - goes "who?"
The guy, eating a burger, and facing us.
The old guy with the glasses?
No, he's neither eating a burger nor facing us.

And more fun conversations were basically...just... You can definitely tell we're related - although Sarah wanted to fool the server into putting our bill together claiming that she's having my baby. To see the reaction. Which was weird. But okay. Because we had been joking with him all night. He got a big tip.

Moving on, just one-liners are just, they stick with you. You know? And I've added a certain few into a catagory I like to call: "Conversations I could never have with my mother". I love my mom. But there are just things that we don't talk about. I think it's the age gap. But for Oldest Sister and Squirt, she's like the cool mom who's into everything and all that.

"Did you talk to a boy?"
"No...I stared at his butt."

There are more, but I don't think that I should repeat them.

Then, in the parking lot, oh my god, have you ever had one of those parking spots where you're surrounded and you're like, okay i'm in, but i'm never going to get out of here without hitting something! and then you come out to your car and that area is completely deserted except for your car? ME NEITHER!!! Ever! But tonight it was, I was stoked. We should do late dinner more often. Less waiting and better parking lot leave-age.

Wow, what a ramble. Should like zen out and sleep now.

Tomorrow is going to be a loooonnnnng day. Two halfdays in a row, I'm getting used to napping and watching Charlie's Angels. Tomorrow is going to be a wakeup call, in more ways than one.
I get to be a mom. Sort of. For a night. ish. Oldest Sister is leaving me her two children and I get the joys of running them and their friends to sporting and social events.
But it's only for a night. So don't get any ideas about this happening with me any time soon. Unless you want your grandchildren to be named "the Chad" and "Batgirl".


Song of the night - Throwback Thursday

"Stayin' Alive" The BeeGees
what is it with him and that jacket? desolation looks like something out of Endgame. god I hated that play. with a passion. Sorry Mr. Beckett. grossed me out and made me angry. Just leave him!

it was a good jam for the night.

though i was tempted to post this: "Pop Goes My Heart"

alright, off to watch some CA and sleep.