"I would shoulder a twelve-year-old for you. That's love."

Remember how my life motto is: Well, that's something to scrapbook....??

Lots of scrapbook worthy moments will follow in this post, but the first one I could do without. My hands are still shaking.

So I got into libraries cause they were safe.

No stuff to gross me out, no craziness, no life or death situations.

Until today.

With that last one I mean, there's gross stuff and craziness almost every day. That's why we have a security guard.

So, imagine this, if you will, Info-Man and I are on the front desk. Less than an hour left in the day when one of our regulars walks up to the counter.

I look up and something just seems off. His face is sort of sagging on one side and he looked disoriented.

Adding to that he couldn't find his library card, which was apparently right in front of him.

I noticed he was only using one of his arms and on a hunch I Googled (yes all my reference training and I still reach for Google) "symptoms of a stroke". He seemed to have every symptom on the list.

So, me being me, aka hesitant about what we're allowed to do legally, consulted with Info-Man who said I should go tell Superwoman who happened to be working in youth services.

She was of course helping a patron but when I told her it was a patron emergency she came on the run.

I pointed out the symptoms on the screen and then the patron and she went over to talk to him.

He seemed even more disoriented. She called the ambulance, I called the guard, and we all waited for the EMT's to show up.

Longest 10 minutes of my life.

By the time they got there he couldn't even tell them his own name. So I did. Along with the symptoms I noticed and other answers to various questions they had.

They loaded him up on a gurney and drove off to the hospital in the ambulance and that was that.

No idea what happened next. Am hoping he will be okay.

After my dad was diagnosed with Bell's Palsy I started to notice facial stuff like that. Glad we were able to get him an ambulance, can only imagine what would have happened if he left the building.

As mentioned above, could have lived without that one in my life's scrapbook. My hands are still shaking.


So, let's move on before I freak out more about it.

Guess what I found again at the library!



Seriously?



Seriously?

Ridiculous. I'm done looking at ceilings.

And guess what shirt I was wearing!

A blue one with a giant 3 on it.

Which was fitting as it was my third bat.

While this post is delayed that happened the day right after the previous post.

Day after that I was gonna wear a Warehouse 13 shirt but changed my mind and went with a musical festival one instead.

Figured it was safer. Didn't want any magical artifacts showing up at the library.

Seriously should go out and buy a shirt with a bag of money on it.

And now, not only am I "Batgirl" as one of the guards has so lovingly dubbed me, but also I play exterminator to damsels in distress, aka Queen of the Known Universe.

I was upstairs when I got this panic call about a big bug in youth services. She traded me desks while I went to squash it. The call was my fault technically. Earlier this week she had another big bug encounter. She got a supervisor thinking she would squash it but instead she just shooed it and then they couldn't find it. I was enlisted to help search. When it wasn't located I said if she saw it to call me and I would squish it. I'm assuming that led to this call so it was my fault.


In other news the boyfriend and I hit up the last roller derby match at Pershing. It was also the last event at Pershing before it is decommissioned so it was packed. We sat trackside cause how could you not for the last one, really?

The Road Warriors (aka the B team) dominated, but the Mad Maxines (A team) lost in the final minutes. It was a heartbreaker, but it was still a great game. Missing Flash Gloria for sure but Annamaniac and Slam Anderson are pretty good too.

We sat right next to the merchandise table so of course I had to buy some shirts. Especially since they were on sale. You can never have too many derby shirts.

Plus I bought ducks from Kelly Ripa-Nipalov which was delightful. Don't worry, they were rubber. At halftime they put buckets in the middle of the track and you have to try to throw them in one to win prizes.

Ripa is my favorite. The first bout I ever went to she decked a chick at the whistle and then took off skating. Since the refs didn't see it they didn't call it, it was fantastic.

She's my only favorite that's left that is.

It used to be Busty St. Claire then she left.

Then Princess Lay-ya-Flat then she left.

Then Anna-Wrecks-It then she left.

Then Lt. Slamher then she left.

Then Flash Gloria then she left. To play for Omaha. The rival squad.

I'm shutting up before I rant for an entire post.

Anyway, here are a few pictures from the bout.







As mentioned we sat trackside. Since it was the last event at Pershing they brought back a bunch of the alumni skaters who happened to sit in front of us.

Best part of the whole derby was them screaming "I hope your wheel falls off!" at the other team's jammer.

Like I said, sad we lost, but it was a great couple of games.


The boyfriend and also went to see Karmin at the State Fair. They were excellent, played all my favorite songs. We went out to meet them afterward but were surrounded by tiny children and screaming teenage girls.

Quote of the day was: "I will shoulder a 12-year-old for you. That's love."

Thanks babe.

We decided we no longer want to have children after that experience. I should rephrase, we decided we no longer want to have children that grow up to be teenage girls after that experience.

Low maintenance boys would be okay.

But since there's no guarantee it will be a low maintenance boy we're just going to hold off for a while.

Until our mothers push us to the breaking point that is. According to his mother we're supposed to have three. According to mine she'll be happy if I have one. Actually I think she'll just be happy if I get married to begin with.

Anyway, here are some pictures from the concert.









Fabulous. Nebraska pride. So proud, for serious.


What else? Oh yeah, finally did the Ice Bucket Challenge. After being challenged 3 times. First was Smo, then Oldest Sister, then Abby-Cadabra my niece. Thanks for that, by the way.

In return I nominated Liz - a friend from the library - Anna - aka Chief my best friend from grade school - and SuperHumann - a teacher from my high school.

Was smart enough not to challenge Sketch - she'd drive all the way out here just to smack me - or the boyfriend who would also not be a fan.

The video is on Facebook if you want to see it.


Been spending a lot of time with my sisters the past week. Went out for sushi and all that.



Tada! Isn't it pretty?

Not according to Queen of the Known Universe.

But we had fun. Basically closed the place down the one night.

The boyfriend and I have been playing a lot of retro MarioKart lately. By retro I mean N64. Which I like better than the Wii version, but that's just me.

I used to play it with my cousins all the time. I'm always Toad. I like Toad. Liz was always Peach, Jake was Yoshi, I think Justin was Mario.

The boyfriend is always Luigi.

Or "weejee" as myself and my family calls him. I have no idea why he picks him, but he does.

I was pretty proud cause I beat him a few times in both battles and races.



Documented proof.


I'm so excited hockey season is coming up. Before the first pre-season hockey game season ticket holders get to tour the locker room and meet the players - I'm stoked! But the boyfriend will be out of town so I'm taking Smo. He'll also be gone for the first actual season game so I'm taking Queen of the Known Universe.

She says if she goes it's gotta be the whole date experience. Dinner and a t-shirt from the gift shop.

Reminds me of when we went to Info-Man's play. That was date night at well with dinner and driving all the way across town to make it in time.

PS - the woman drives like a man woman.

I was reminded of that when we went to a funeral this week for a coworker's father.

Not a fun way to start the day but I was glad I went in support.


Scale of Awesome's for you:

Noah


Okay, I knew I shouldn't have watched this because I had heard about the rock monsters and all that, but I was bored and needed something on in the background when I took a nap.

I was so mad that I couldn't sleep.

It lasted a whole 30 seconds before it was wrong.

And then it just got worse.

The destruction of the world by water is dramatic enough, did you really have to add in rock monsters?

Seriously?

I was so frustrated by the end of it (full of more lies than just the stupid rock monsters, btw) that I still couldn't sleep so I put on some Blacklist to calm me down.

I'm giving it a -10/10.

That's Rushmore and Mummy 3 level which is saying something.

Divergent


The boyfriend and I caved and finally watched it. Scale of Awesome says 7/10. It was alright, but predictable. I'm sure the book is better. However it didn't give me enough motivation to read the books so that will remain just a guess.

On to the music:

Gotta go with Karmin of course. Here are my favorites...

Look At Me Now


the song that started it all. 92 million views and counting.

Brokenhearted


years later and it's still my favorite song.

Acapella


love it. and its acoustic version...also on youtube if you're interested.

There are more but I don't want to overload you.

But I'm excited, I have officially seen 3 of my top 5 favorite bands.

Maroon 5, She & Him and now Karmin.

Now just missing Lily Allen - who is touring the US btw, awesomeness, want to go so bad - and Eminem who is also touring with Rihanna at the moment.

Monster Tour. They did the Ice Bucket challenge, it was hilarious.

Anyway, back to Karmin. I loved it, it was epic and awesome. Nebraska Pride man.

And that's all I got.

Wow, a lot for just two weeks. Should really go back to posting more. At least once a week to keep my ramblings manageable. Maybe I'll attempt for "My Life Mondays" or something.

Balls to you sir, balls to you sir, up and down the court.

Guess what I found AGAIN this morning at work!

A freakin' bat.

Flippin' winged creatures at the library - I'm on a roll.

I feel like Neville, "why is it always me?"

For those of you who don't already know go here: "Bats are Cute-ish" "Bats have rabies" "That's why I said ish"

or Here: "Freakin' Birds"

Anyway, so I'm doing the expired/cancelled holds list and I look up and see this big black thing on the ceiling. Of course my kneejerk reaction was to run screaming in the other direction.

My farmgirl background failed me, not for the first time.

When I couldn't find Superwoman I ran (actually ran) to the basement to get Girlscout and Cabin Fever was like "you do realize what shirt you're wearing, right?"

I look down and it's a Batman t-shirt.

So apparently this is all my fault.

I ran into my Trainee on the street after it happened and she said that tomorrow I should wear a t-shirt with a bag of money on it.

Good plan, but it would probably just end up as "found money" and go to the cash register.

Anyway, here's the pic that's went viral around the workplace.



The whole time I'm attempting not to flee just in case it would detach and fly at my head.

I have a feeling I won't be living that down anytime soon.

But whatever.

I await all the upcoming pranks...

So, I've decided that fall is my favorite season.

The weather cools down.

Football starts.

Hockey starts.

The good TV shows come back - except Major Crimes, that goes away for a few months.

I know it isn't technically fall yet, but I consider it to be fall because school is back in session.

Which is another reason why I like the fall - I no longer have to worry about school being back in session cause I'm done.

Got my Master's, I've earned some time off.

As much as I love the Blacklist, the Voice, Castle and all that I'm mostly excited for the football and hockey. Huskers are gonna rock it - even though our quarterback is only a Sophomore I have faith. We've got Bell, Abdullah, and Gregory - we'll be fine.

And as for hockey, it's gonna be interesting because we have a new manager, a new coach, and a completely different team (with the exception of a few who made it from last year) so it'll be exciting to see the changes. Which were needed cause last year was not our best year by far.

We went for full season tickets this year, and I'm stoked cause pre-season is coming up in September. However, the boyfriend will be gone so I'll have to take someone else. Hmmm....whom to choose. Queen of the Known Universe has no interest. It's Oldest Sister's birthday so she'd have other plans. Perhaps I'll ask Smo. Or Queen of Awesome. Or P-Squared. Will have to look into that.

What else?

Okay, now that camp season is officially over I can finally post this. This is the M rated version of the 7th and 8th graders skit from this year. If you want the G rated version that they did scroll down a post.

Watch it, it will make you laugh I promise. Even if it is wildly inappropriate. I did say M rated. 



Again, M Rated and they did the G version. There are many versions on Youtube but this crew is my favorite.

This one from the 90's comes in second:


Wow that's a lot faster.

The flag man is my favorite.

Though the tennis player in this one is pretty good too...

By the way, the end ballerina is usually either the captain or cruise director.

You have no idea how many times I've watched those videos and continually repeat the phrases as I walk through the library. It just brightens my day.

Though "balls to you" is frequently whispered under my breath if something bad happens.

In other news we went to World of Outlaws again this year. Donny Schatz won so balls to that. He wins everything so no one likes him.

With the exception of the like 4 people in the immediate row in front of us.

Though we spent most of our time down in the pits. It's cool cause you get to talk to all the drivers and of course the boyfriend knows all their names and all about their cars and all that. Cause he's smart like that. But his favorite driver was there so he got a couple new shirts. He and his wife have these southern accents, it's awesome.

I would have gotten shirts but I like my yellow crew shirt. Even though it means commentators will talk about it over the microphone.

I did mention that already right? We were at the races and I was talking to my friend so I wasn't paying attention when suddenly the boyfriend leans over and goes "they're talking about your shirt." I was like what? Then listened and heard "she's ignoring us..." So I turned around and they were like "heeyyyyyyy!"

Then they kept offering me money for my shirt. Which I rejected. And just when I thought it was done they brought it up again later.

Oh the joys.

But it's my fault cause it is an awesome shirt.

And bright yellow so it's hard to miss.

And speaking of all things awesome, I hit up a Saltdogs game and got paid for it!

Hey, it was for work, don't give me that look.

The game itself was a part of Summer Reading - if you completed the program you got a ticket for that one and the kids who wanted to could participate in a parade beforehand.

Which a coworker and I got forced into marshalling.

She needs a nickname, especially now that she's transferring to our branch. And I will be flailing to her frequently because that's what I did to her predecessor. She was in charge of supplies for the system and I am for our branch. Hmm...Will have to work on a nickname. Ideas?

What else? Oh yeah, got some Scale of Awesome's for you.

Guardians of the Galaxy


Scale of Awesome says 8/10. This one was actually pretty enjoyable, the boyfriend and I laughed a lot, especially about the Kevin Bacon stuff. And I'm looking into buying the soundtrack, it was pretty awesome as well.

Dish Nation


Okay so this is actually a TV series, not a movie but I'm including it because it's new to me and I like it. Basically it's a bunch of different entertainment radio morning shows that are filmed and it's hilarious. My favorite is the Rickey Smiley Morning Show out of Atlanta. It consists of Rickey Smiley, Headkrack, Rock-T and Porsha Williams. A close second is the Heidi and Frank Show or the Kidd Kraddick Show, those are both good. I don't like Seattle's which is Brooke and Jubal in the Morning but it rotates in every other week.



There, those are my three favorites. (order shown Kidd, H/F, and Rickey)

I know you don't care, but I do.

Anyway, you know how I am about media and entertainment news and all that so this is like the fun and entertaining way to keep up on my stuff. You should check it out, it's wildly entertaining.


Alright, on to the music:

Shake It Off - Taylor Swift


too catchy for its own good, it's been out like 2 days and i already bought it...i love her. i know most people don't but i really do.

All About That Bass - Meghan Trainor


which is fantastic!

and guess who just covered that one...

Home Free!!


i love those guys, but i've already rambled about them enough.

final one of the night is...

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


no official video for that one yet but it's still early on. and all three are huge so i'm sure it will be awesome.


And that's all I got. Wow, that was long. Should probably post more often, huh?

Up next in life is Roller Derby, TAB and (if it gets approved) a crap-ton of programming aimed at patrons aged 18-29. But we'll see about that last one. IF it does get approved, and that's a big IF, I'm gonna need some serious feedback.

Alright, have a rock star week.

Eat a donut, write a ticket, hands in the air - Camp J Skits 2014

Now, as promised, here were my skits for Camp J 2014.

3rd Boys – Gathering of Nuts

Vincent: I am the famous artist, Vincent Van Go Go. I have come here this evening at great expense to create one of my living nature paintings which will express the atmosphere of this camp!
First I am going to need some trees. (Trees are selected from the campers and are directed where to stand. They wave their arms gently.)
Now I will need some birds to twitter among the trees. (Birds are selected and they move around the trees making twittering sounds.)
Perhaps a sun to shine on everything. (A tall camper stands on a bench and smiles brightly.)
It's not right yet. I know, some rabbits hopping around. (Rabbits are selected and they hop around)
One last touch. A babbling brook. Camper, will you be the brook, you're always babbling. (The brook takes his place.)
There it is, another Vincent Van Go Go original nature scene. I call it "The Gathering of the Nuts."


3rd Girls – The Medicrin
(with younger kids I've learned it's easier to make them repeat things like sound effects over and over instead of having them learn lines so they said the words inside the asterisks while their counselor narrated)

Narrator: There once was a medieval village named Trinsic *welcome to Trinsic*. This village was being terrorized *ahhh!* by a vile monster, the Medicrin *grrr*. Each night, the Medicrin *grrr* would stalk down from the hills, and devour one of the villagers *yum yum*.

The terrified villagers called a meeting, and decided to pool their money *cha-ching* together to hire the great hero Erin. *da-da-da-da*

Erin *da-da-da-da* came and listened to the complaints of the villagers *he keeps eating us!*. She consulted her Great Hero's Book of Vile Monsters *oo scary*, and learned that Medicrins *grrr* love to eat Loons *ooo-ooo*.

So Erin *da-da-da-da* hunted high and low to find a loon *ooo-ooo*. She found one, captured it *gotcha!*, tied it up, and brought it back to the village. She then had the villagers dig a deep pit *dig, dig, dig*.

Erin *da-da-da-da* threw the loon *ooo-ooo* into the pit, hoping to capture the Medicrin *grrr*, and slay it *take that!*.

That night, the Medicrin *grrr* came . . . It smelled the loon . . . *ooo-ooo*

But it also smelled DANGER *danger!*, and it ran off, devouring one of the villagers on the way out. *ahhhh!!*

After calming the villagers, *shhhh* the next day, Erin *da-da-da-da* again consulted her Great Hero's Book of Vile Monsters *oo scary*, and learned that Medicrins *grrr* also love sugar. *mmm*

So Erin *da-da-da-da* gathered up all of the sugar *mmm* in the village, and threw it into the pit *look out below!*. The loon *ooo-ooo*, not having eaten in days, *I’m hungry* devoured all of the sugar in a single gulp *gulp*. Erin *da-da-da-da* was struck with panic *ahhh*, and ran to and fro trying to figure out what to do next, but night had fallen, and the Medicrin *grrr* would be there soon, so Erin *da-da-da-da* crossed her fingers, and hoped for the best.

That night, the Medicrin *grrr* came . . . It smelled the loon *ooo-ooo* . . . It smelled danger *danger!*...

But it also smelled the sugar, *mmm* and the Medicrin *grrr* dived into the pit *look out below*, and devoured the loon *ooo-ooo*. The villagers swarmed over the Medicrin *grrr*, and slew it. *take that!*

The moral of the story: "A loon full of sugar helps the Medicrin go down." *sing Mary Poppins*


4th Boys – 7-up
(Four campers are sitting in a hospital waiting room. A doctor enters.)

"Hello _____ I have great news! Your wife just gave birth to twins!"
Camper 1 jumps up and exclaims: "Wow, this is really funny, because I work for the Minnesota Twins!" and he exits.
Time passes, and the doctor enters again.
"Hello _______ I have wonderful news! Your wife just gave birth to triplets!"
Camper 2 jumps up and says: "Wow, that's really funny, because I work at 3-M Communications!" and he exits.
Time passes, and the doctors enters again.
"Hello _____ I have exciting news! Your wife just gave birth to quadruplets!"
Camper 3 jumps up and says: "Wow, that's really funny, because I work at the Four Seasons." before he exits, the last camper gets up.
Camper 4: "That's it, I'm outta here."
Doctor: "Why is that?"
Camper 4: "I work at 7-up!"


4th Girls – Quit While You’re A Head

Narrator: A young couple managed to finally have a child after years of trying. The only problem is that this child was born with only her head. The child lived her life looking out the window at the other kids and by the age of 4 she really wanted to join them. She went to her mother and asked,
Child: "Mother can I go and play outside with the other kids?"
Narrator: Her mother looks at her daughter and said,
Mother: "I'm sorry daughter but you don’t have a torso, how can you hope to play with them?"
Narrator: The girl prayed before she went to sleep that night,
Child: "God please give me a torso so I can play with the other kids."
Narrator: The next day the child woke up with a torso. She screamed for her mother,
Child: "Mommy, mommy! I grew a torso. Can I play with them now?"
Narrator: The mother looked at the girl and said,
Mother: "I'm sorry daughter but you don’t have any arms, how can you hope to play with them?"
Narrator: The girl again prayed before going to sleep that night,
Child: "God please give me arms so I can play with the other kids."
Narrator: The next day the child woke up with arms. She screamed for her mother.
Child: "Mommy, mommy I grew arms. Can I play with the other kids now?"
Narrator: The mother looked at the girl and said,
Mother: "I'm sorry daughter but you don’t have any legs, how can you hope to play with them?"
Narrator: The girl yet again prayed before going to sleep that night,
Child: "God please give me legs so I can play with the other kids."
Narrator: The next day the child woke up with legs. She screamed for her mother,
Child: "Mommy, mommy, I grew legs. Can I play with the other kids now?"
Narrator: The mother smiled and said,
Mother: "Of course you can, just be careful crossing the road."
Narrator: The girl ran across the road and got hit by a bus. *honk honk, girls as bus run her over while singing wheels on the bus* The moral of this story? Quit while you're a head.


5th Boys – My Bonnie
(this one we did with one camper as a piano player and the rest of the campers on their knees acting as the piano. he'd hit them on their heads and they'd say a word. when they got to the very last word the camper wouldn't sing, the piano player tried everything and after he walked away frustrated the kid finally sang the final word)

My Bonnie leaned over the gas tank,
The height of its contents to see,
She lighted a match to assist her,
O Bring back my Bonnie to me.

Bring back, bring back
Bring back my Bonnie to me, to me
Bring back, bring back
Bring back my Bonnie to me


5th Girls – Royal Papers

Leader: Bring me my royal papers!
(a camper runs up to her with a newspaper.)
Leader: Those are NOT my Royal papers. (throws them aside.)
Leader: Bring me my Royal papers now!
(a camper runs up to her with notebook paper.)
Leader: Those are NOT my Royal papers. (throws them aside.)
(repeat with other papers)
Leader: Bring me my Royal papers now!
(a camper runs up to her with roll of toilet paper.)
Leader: Aaaaaah, FINALLY! My Royal papers! (and hugs the roll to her chest as she runs offstage toward the bathroom.)


6th Boys – God’s Word 
(this was a chant I found online) It goes like this:


B – Word (echo)
B – Word (echo)
B – God’s Word (echo)
B – God’s Word (echo)
B – God’s Word is powerful and mighty (echo)
B – Mighty mighty is God’s Word it makes the devil tremble (echo)
B – Beat that big bad devil with a bible verse (echo)
REPEAT
Teach to crowd
Someone walks out as devil each yell the theme passage at him "It is by grace you have been saved through faith" and he falls over


6/7th Grade Girls – Channel Changer 
(each camper holds up sign listing what channel they are, this took forever to piece together but they were great at it)

Camper: Wonder what’s on TV today. (click)
News Anchor: Good morning ladies and gentleman. On today’s show we’ll be talking about a human interest story that will make…
Girl Scout Commercial: …you feel like you’re missing something in your life? Do you always find yourself unprepared? Do you like camping and hiking in the great outdoors? If you do then join the Girl Scouts of America. Scouting today - it’s a lot more than just...
Cooking: …cookies. Along with that we’ll be making meatloaf, scalloped potatoes, and peas. Then we’ll serve those cookies for dessert. Okay ladies, get out your note pads and your cooking utensils. Listen carefully and you will learn how to prepare this scrumptious dish to please that hard working hungry husband of yours after a long day’s work at...
Story time: ...Fantasy land, where all of your dreams come true. Hello boys and girls. Today’s story is an old time favorite. It is about a famous little girl and her dear old grandmother who was a...
Gangster: ...dirty, rotten, no good, two bit, double crossing crook and when I get my hands on him I’ll pulverize him to a pulp, fit him to a pair of concrete shoes, and he will never be seen in my territory again. Even if the low down, dirty rat is...
Baseball: ...the next batter at the plate for the Yankees. Here’s the first pitch... It’s a ball, outside. The pitcher gets his signals. He winds up... Whoa! It’s a hard fast ball right down the pipe. Strike one. The count is one and one. The pitcher delivers again. The batter swings and hits…
Game Show: … a new car!! Which you’ll get if you win this next game. The rules are simple. All you have to do is put…
Cooking: ...the meatloaf into the pan and fry for fifteen minutes or until brown. Now ladies, this next step is very crucial to the success of your meatloaf. If you don’t get it correctly...
Gangster: ...I’ll bash your head in and make mash potatoes out of your face. So don’t mess up or I’ll send you to...
Girl Scout: ...the Girl Scouts of America. Just imagine the fun you’ll have swimming, boating, hiking, and sitting around the campfire at night. Only you, the stars, the moon and...
Aerobics: …exercise balls. Can you feel the burn? You’re doing great ladies. Keep it up, just follow…
Soap Opera: …Me? You want to marry me? Oh Biff, I, I....
Game Show: ...am so sorry, that's the wrong answer. The correct answer was…
Story time: ...Little Red Riding Hood”, said the wolf. “What do you have in your basket?” “Well, Mr. Wolf”, said Little Red Riding Hood, “I have...
Baseball: ...two outs! Yankees on first and second at the bottom of the third and they are down by two runs. They’ve got to have a hit with this batter or they’re...
Soap Opera: …getting married. I can’t believe it. I have to go to tell my…
Cooking: ...meatloaf will be hot, so be careful ladies, because it’s…
Aerobics:...burning that fat so sweat it out and you'll feel...
Soap Opera:...so sad...I can’t believe you cheated on me. We were going to get married. How could you do this to me?...I just...
Game Show Host:...won a million dollars!!!! No one ever wins a million dollars on this show. I can’t believe it, it’s…
Baseball: ...a home run! And that will put the Yankees in the lead, 6 to 5, in the bottom of the sixth inning here at county stadium. Wow! What a change of events. This game has changed from a dull, typical pitchers battle to an…
Aerobics: …hour long workout. Only 3 minutes left, don’t forget to…
News Anchor: …cause major flooding. The only reasonable explanation is that…
Soap Opera: …I set your house on fire! That’s right! And I’d do it again! I hope you…
Gangster: ...get your guts blown out if you double cross me again. I’ll put so many holes in you that you’ll look like a screen door. No one fools around with me except...
Girl Scout: ...the Girls Scouts of America...
Baseball: ...have struck out again, and boy is the Red Sox’s manager giving it to the ump. I can just imagine him saying...
News Anchor:… wow! Look at those geese fly. Let’s send it over to our weatherman Kyle. Kyle, what’s in store for us today?
Aerobics: …Blood, sweat, and tears. But it’s been worth it ladies. I want each of you to…
Soap Opera: …get arrested? All I did was burn his house down! He was the one that cheated on me with…
Story time: ...Grandmother, what big eyes you have”, said Little Red Riding Hood. “The better to see you with my dear,” said the wolf. “And grandmother”, said Little Red Riding Hood, “what a big head you have...
Baseball: ...says the ump to the Red Sox’s manager as he throws him out of the game. Well, Bob, it looks like the only thing that can save the Red Sox now is...
Girl Scout: ...the Girl Scouts of America...
Cooking: ...and your piping hot peas. By now your cookies should be tender and flaky, just like ...
Story time: ...Little Red Riding Hood was about to be gobbled up by the wicked old wolf. Suddenly, the door burst open, and the woodsman said...
Gangster: ...you dirty bugger. I’ve got you dead to right now. Mess with my man, will you? Well, no one messes with my guy and gets away with it. The only thing that can save you now is...
Baseball: ...the Yankees...
Cooking: ...your meatloaf…
Aerobics: …some high kicks…
Game Show: … this gallon of orange juice…
Story time: ...Little Red Riding Hood…
Soap Opera: …my attorney…
News Anchor: …Kyle the weatherman…
Girl Scout: ...and the Girl Scouts of America.


7/8th Boys and 8th Girls – If I were not a Camper 
goes something like this but I traded out a few of the verses:


Here were the verses we used:

If I weren’t a camper I know what I would be, if I weren’t a camper a ____ I would be.

Farmer - Give Bessie give, the baby's gotta live
Boxer - Left hook, right hook, knock him out cold

Referee - Holding, offsides, field goal's good
Police Officer - Eat a donut, write a ticket, hands in the air

Taxi Driver - Pay your fare, hop in back, hold on for your life!
Queen - I'd bow my head, and curtsey low and off with his head

Surfer - Whoa, Dave, look at that gnarly wave - AH!
Lifeguard – Save yourself man, I'm working on my tan

Garbage Man - Scoop it, dump it, pick out the good stuff
Lunch Lady - Scoop it, dump it, pick out the good stuff

Bellhop - Here's your key, here's your room, have a pillow sir
Counselor - Go to bed, Clean your bunk, I think I'll take a nap

Pastor - Halleluiah, Amen, pass the plate around again
Politician - Vote for me, vote for me, thanks for your support

Hard to be a boy in a cabin named Sioux - Camp J 2014 Highlights

And now, the post you’ve all been waiting for. Or at least I have since it's the one I look forward to every year.

First here are the previous years:

2011 Highlights - Jansen
2012 Highlights - Eh, they signed a waiver
2013 Highlights - Now Rhonda has no Honda

Now on to...

Camp J 2014 Highlights - Hard to be a boy in a cabin named Sioux

Thursday

-Tent Setup
:: After working Thursday morning I headed out to the camp site in the afternoon. Jim arrived soon after. After we had unloaded the trailer - with much help from others there - we went to set up our tents. This is an adventure in itself every year. And you would think after doing it for at least 10 years we would have it down, but not so much. Though technically he did just get a new tent like last year. This year there were spider webs everywhere so I was super nervous I was gonna walk into one (yes I'm a farm girl but that doesn't mean I like bugs) but really the only bugs we encountered the whole weekend were wasps, and we have spray for that. Oh and hornets, apparently there were angry hornets in Mary Lee. Glad I missed out on that one. Anyway, 2 hours later after a few failed attempts and a lot of screaming the tents were up and running and it was time for food. Cantrell made us burgers - they were good stuff - and just when we thought Smo was lost she turned up.

-Oooo vs Ewww
:: For those of you who don't know, Smo was my high school roommate - well, one of the many. I talked her into going to camp a few months ago and - after registering on time, woohoo! - she made it this year. Since she was new she went with us on a cabin tour - or as we call it "Mattress Count". The count exists because the one year when we didn't count them we were short and had to drag extras from Mary Lee to Mohican which was all the way at the other end. Here, here's a map, courtesy of Michael's computer skills.




Similar to last year, we had more boys than girls so we had the same arrangement, however this year we did have a cabin of girls on the very edge of the boys side (Pawnee). We chose to put the 3rd grade girls in this one because there is a difference between the 8th grade girls "oooo" at boys and the 3rd grade girls "ewww" at boys. And if they're "ewww"ing them then we don't have to worry about them venturing past their cabin into boy territory.

-The Butter Aisle
:: Every year Jim and I find ourselves going to Walmart Thursday night to get things we've forgotten. This year his list was longer than mine and included things like soap and sheets. I made fun of this then three days later found myself running to Walmart because I forgot extra shorts. They were in the dryer, woops. To be fair I did remember pants...but you don't wear pants in 100 degree weather. But whatever, he got his forgotten stuff and I got my skit supplies and then we were like, let's get ice cream and chocolate syrup! Cause that's what we do on Thursdays before the kids get there. We found the ice cream right away but got lost finding syrup so we asked an employee. Then of course she had no idea so she radioed and they told us it was in the "butter aisle." Well, where the crap is that? Butter is not in an aisle it's on an end in the refrigerated section. Whatever, so we found the "butter aisle" and there was no syrup in sight. But you know what WAS in the butter aisle? LIQUOR. Lots and lots of liquor. So we're thinking either employees really have no idea where anything is in that store or they were watching us on camera wandering around going "where the crap is the butter aisle?" and laughing. Or maybe we looked stressed and they thought we needed to visit the "butter aisle." Anyway, every Walmart trip after that we kept finding excuses to go visit the "butter aisle." Though we didn't get anything from it because that's what caused a lot of drama last year. Not by us, but with a teen. Read last year's highlights.

-Injury
:: So I don't know what happened but somehow in the middle of the night I did something to my back. I don't know if I slept on it wrong or reached too far for something or what, but every time I rolled over I was in pain. This pain carried on throughout the weekend so much so that it hurt to laugh. Which explains me laughing and then doubling over in pain multiple times. Thankfully Jim had drugs in his medkit so I spent most of camp on Bayer because it seemed to work the best. It's turning into yet another camp tradition - me being injured in some way or another. I get bit up by bugs and my feet swells up, I get blisters, etc. something always happens. I should just learn to expect it.


Friday

-French Toast
:: There are many camp traditions. Cantrell's french toast is one of them. Along with flour tag, lasagna assembly lines, Apples to Apples, and rootbeer floats. Though you'll be proud that I skipped out on that last one keeping my "no more pop" experiment alive. I was asked if it was a permanent thing or if it would be ending soon. Truth is I'm not sure. I just wanna see how long I can make it last. But anyway, the french toast was awesome and it woke us up for what happened next.

-Registration
:: This is always an adventure. I had it set up the night before so that morning it went pretty smoothly. Girls stuff on one table, boys on the other. Set up right by the door so they grab their lanyard and schedule, then drop off any medications for the nurse before heading to their cabin where their counselor was waiting. Usually I have Oldest Sister to help me out but she was otherwise engaged at a family reunion. Not mine, hers. If that makes sense. However, this year both other siblings made an appearance. My brother with his daughter who was up to her 4th year of camp and his son who was there for his first year. Then Second Sister brought her oldest son who was also there for the first time. To be fair I did warn their counselor in advance that when they're together they can be rowdy, but they actually weren't so bad. Minus the fact that one of them wore the same clothes the entire weekend and the other one I'm pretty sure never put on sunscreen. But they both survived and so did the camp, mostly unscathed.

-"I went outside once, it was awful." 


::Before I go any further I should mention that it was about 100 degrees on both Friday and Saturday. Thankfully myself and the music crew were inside in the air conditioning and rarely ventured out. When we did it was horrible. But the kids didn't seem to notice because to compensate for the heat we just increased their swimming time. Actually it was so cold in the mess hall that Smo and I ended up putting on sweatshirts. Which confused everyone as they walked in.

-Skits Day One
:: Each group seemed to be content with their skit, which was a big relief after the hell that was last year, the only one with problems was me and that's because of the whole back injury thing. Which meant I used Smo as my demonstrator. It was amusing so I called it initiation but she seemed to handle it well.

-Hole in the bucket
:: The boys seem to really enjoy when we sing There's a Hole in the Bucket at campfire. We've figured out that it's because it's really the only time they get to win an argument. But as patient women we said we'd let them have their small victory while secretly plotting to Google some sort of rebuttal when we returned from camp. All I can say is that it's top secret and they better be ready next year.

-Night patrol headlamps
:: Remember how I got stuck doing night patrol? Cause Phil is just so persuasive. This year I drug Smo around with me and it's dark so we came up with some interesting lighting options. I had my headlamp, which still works - huzzah - and instead of carrying around the lantern in her hand Smo decided to turn it into a decorative head ornament by strapping it on with a headband.



Very stylish I must say. We had to be sneaky this year because I was challenged. Keep in mind this year was my 19th year of camp so I've been doing this for quite some time but I've only recently picked up night patrol duty. My niece - the one who'd been at camp 4 years - told my brother, aka her dad, that the kids only pretend to sleep when I come around for night patrol. I told her (through him) that I knew that because I went to camp at that age and know all the tricks and don't stop circling until I know that they are actually asleep. Upon hearing that I knew all the tricks she vowed to come up with new tricks. Which led to Smo and I crawling and ninja rolling around their cabin, avoiding all windows and trying to find her bunk without alerting the other girls to our presence. We failed cause she's tiny and we couldn't find her, but to be fair SHE WAS ALREADY ASLEEP. So take that.

-No bug spray in enclosed spaces
:: So Smo crashed with me in my tent this year. We fit 2 mattresses in it along with all of our stuff and still had room to walk, so yay big tent! A worthy investment! Though we were outdoors and there were bugs everywhere. Smo decided to spray herself with bugspray thinking that that would keep them away. The only thing about it was she did it inside the tent with no windows open. I wasn't paying attention cause I was texting the boyfriend but suddenly I was engulfed in this wave of spray and couldn't stop coughing. My "did you spray that inside the tent?" was followed by loud laughter from Jim (who was about 5 feet away in his tent) and then us as we coughed for the next ten minutes. Needless to say she didn't do that again.Other than the frogs and the trains and the crickets and the back pain and the fog of bug spray tent life was pretty good this year.


Saturday

-Speaking of ferrets
:: No band is complete without a name. Every year we challenge ourselves to come up with a new name. Last year we were Destiny's Red-Headed Step-Child, this year we went with Speaking of Ferrets. Don't ask. All I'll say was that it came from an interesting conversation about ferrets and then stuck. Our band did excellent this year. We rocked the house for skits and worship and then dominated at campfires (though it was too hot to have them outside so they were moved into the air conditioning).

-"Sounds like a car driving through a halftime show"
:: As part of our band our lead guitarist also plays some piano. We have an electric keyboard that we bring every year complete with different settings you can play with. When working on skits he decided to find the drum setting so he could add in some rimshots after big jokes. While attempting to find it he pressed a bunch of keys and it sounded like a car drove through a halftime show. Which was wildly entertaining, though I'm sure would have been scary if you were apart of it.

-Ping Pong
:: Our un-air-conditioned chapel, where our band used to reside and where I spent the majority of my camp years, is now complete with not one but two ping pong tables. I learned I have no skill whatsoever, but that's okay because I was playing against Smo who faced a similar situation. Ping pong turned into water balloon wars which lead to our next segment...

-"Would you feel better if you threw water balloons at Michael?"
:: After being pelted over and over by water balloons that Michael had thrown at her, Smo tried to be sneaky by stealing my sweatshirt and storing a bunch in there. She failed, they saw her coming a mile away. On our way to get payback we saw a little girl who was starting to get homesick. We worked with what we had on hand - aka two water balloons - and she got Smo's revenge for her.

-Or so we thought, Smo gets thrown in pool
:: Though that didn't last long cause less than five minutes later Smo was over Michael's shoulder as he ran toward the pool. Which really was her fault cause she kept asking what the pool looked like. (It was too dark to see during our mattress count.) Thankfully she did not have any electronic devices - like I did the one time, which was not one of my favorite life moments - and she was thrown in. She stayed outside for a while afterward to dry off in the sun.

-"Hard to be a boy in a cabin named Sioux"
:: Another camp tradition is cabin cheers. Each cabin must come up with a cheer that they will perform for all of camp on Saturday night. Pyramids are popular amongst girls, along with chanting, singing, dancing, and posters. It's not a competition but if it was the 4th grade boys would have won. They had our lead guitarist play as they did a Johnny Cash-inspired song about the rough life for a boy sleeping in a cabin named Sioux. If you don't get that joke you'll make me cry inside and say "oh, for the love, scroll down to the music rec's."


Sunday

-Skits
:: Sunday morning is our closing service for kid's camp. They get up, eat some breakfast, clean camp, then we rehearse for the service by singing through the songs (which we covered during Skits and Worship during our day sessions) before the parents start to arrive at 9. We offer them breakfast - so some of the kids wait to eat - and then church starts at 10. The service was great, Pastor is always great at that, and the kids sang nice and loud. Afterwards is when we perform the skits they practiced (which is the other half of the Skits and Worship sessions) on Friday and Saturday. Needless to say they all did great. I was super proud. If I had to pick a favorite... while the 3rd grade girls did an excellent parodied version of Mary Poppins I think I would still go with the 7th and 8th graders. For the three previous years I made them sing Hee-Haw which I did away with this year because of last year's drama (see post). But I did keep up the singing tradition which was actually worth all the time and effort put into it. The skit was called "If I were not a Camper" and went something like this:



Though I switched out a few of the professions and changed it from boy scout to camper. The ref and police section made people laugh every time and the Pastor and politician were also grand. The boys that I had as the lunch lady and garbage man really REALLY got into it and that made that section hysterical as well. All in all it went over really well with the parents and I was super proud.

-Standing ovation
:: As I introduced myself before the skits I mentioned something about talking to all the parents at one point or another because my name was on everything. After the skits Pastor always does his thank yous and mine was the very last one. I even got a semi-standing ovation from half of the kids. Nice to know all of the hard work was appreciated.

-Walmart shorts, horseshoes, and etc.
:: The first thing that Jim and I do after youth camp - after eating lunch and almost falling asleep that is - is make a Walmart/Ray's Apple Market run for food for teen camp. This year Smo and Michael tagged along. As mentioned previously, I made fun of Jim for forgetting essential items and then ended up buying shorts for the rest of teen camp. It was pretty smooth. After buying out the grocery store we picked up my shorts and some cheap horse shoes at Walmart. Was nice being able to take our time and all that in the air conditioning.

-Fly zappers
:: So we bought all this food and after lugging it all in I picked up my fly zappers and got to work. They're the electronic fly swatters. You press a button and it zaps the fly. While morbid for the flies it's actually quite entertaining. And I make it that way because it's my only job in the kitchen. Jim doesn't let me help anymore after a few years ago when I karate chopped an avocado with a cleaver and missed my fingers holding it by a mere inch. Though this year I did get to help cut fruit. With a paring knife and constant supervision. But even Jim was a bit more relaxed in the kitchen this year because he has decided to promote Michael to head cook. Michael and I have already agreed that as soon as Jim retires from camp we will also, but he was happy to take over kitchen duties as long as Jim still helped out.

-With Bacon
:: The thing about teen camp is that it requires a lot of bacon. This year we had 20 pounds and went through 10 of those in a single meal. We had steak - with bacon to put on top - sauteed onions - which were sauteed in bacon grease - cheesy potatoes - with bacon on top - salad - with bacon on top - and brownies - with no bacon, but it did say it was on it on the sign hanging next to the lineup. You're stunned by this but it has became the norm at teen camp. Last year we went through at least 10 pounds so this year Jim stocked up. And you know we had to use it, couldn't let it go bad....we learned there's no such thing as leftover bacon.

-Missing Ferret
:: Campfire on Sunday night was all about teaching them the theme song. Another one of camp's traditions. Usually it's Liz that writes it but this year she took a step back and let Joel - our new lead guitarist - write this year. The song always revolves around the theme for camp. This year it was Gracebook so he added some Facebook lingo in there. It was really good, though it took us about a day and a half to realize the refrain sounded suspiciously like "Time of Your Life" by Green Day. Scroll down. Anyway, we thought we had it down after singing it over and over at youth camp, but teen camp campfires always seem to have some sort of drama and ours just wasn't the same without our lead guitarist (he just comes for youth camp).

-LOTR
:: After watching basically the same movies over and over we have decided to switch it up over the past few years. One year we did Star Wars' original trilogy, then there was Harry Potter...this year we went with the Lord of the Rings original trilogy. It was awesome, but long, and after starting it at 10:30 we ended up going to bed around 1:30. Which was fine, except we had to be up early the next day. Though not as early as youth camp - there's a major difference between 7:30 and 8:30...The fun thing about watching Lord of the Rings with Smo is that it brings back memories of her beating me in the middle of the night with her giant tiger because she dreamed she was being attacked by orcs.


Monday

-What kind of Star Wars are you watching?
:: While working in the kitchen - they were prepping, I was killing flies - we got on the topic of hospitals and blood. Smo said something about hearing her blood "wooshing" through her veins and how it sounded like Darth Vader. I don't know what kind of Star Wars she's been watching but I'm pretty sure that's not how James Earl Jones sounds. Just throwing that out there.

-Your face is wrong/I know words
:: Remember how I said we didn't go to bed until 1:30? Did I mention I didn't fall asleep until 2:30? This lack of sleep accompanied by the heat made me extremely tired throughout Monday. I don't know why Monday of all days, it may have something do with the fact that I was running on pure adrenaline Thursday-Sunday cause I'm partly in charge of youth camp and I'm only a helper at teen camp so I crashed...I don't know. Anyway, Oldest Sister and Squirt came for Monday of teen camp and I could barely form words. I don't know how this conversation started, all I remember was we were at a picnic table outside and I mumbled something that I understand but they didn't and they made fun of me. I know words, I just couldn't pronounce them at the time. Oldest Sister said I was wrong about something to which I contradicted saying in the dictionary there's a picture of her face next to the word "wrong" and kept repeating the phrase "your face is wrong" for the majority of the afternoon. I know words.

-Women start forest fires too
:: Of course there was a lot of Apples to Apples played at teen camp - and even a little played at youth camp. The only amusing one that I can think of at the moment is Squirt. The word was masculine and someone turned in a card that said "forest fires" to which she responded, "women start forest fires too" and immediately flipped the card over. Scuba Steve found a "trendy" expansion pack and added those cards to our bunch so now our collection includes nouns like "Hastag" "Mommie Bloggers" "Amish Mafia" and "Beliebers". That last one got used with the word "obnoxious" or something similar. Made me proud.

-Campfire fail/I need to use the sleep
:: As mentioned I was extremely sleep-deprived on Monday and by the time campfire rolled around it had come to my breaking point. This was the only outdoor campfire we did the whole week and we couldn't see cause it was dark. There was moke in our eyes from the fire and adding to those the kids didn't want to be there - you could tell cause they weren't participating at all. We were off with the beat because we couldn't hear them, my bandmates didn't want to play certain songs that the teens wanted to sing, and then I had an epic voice crack which made me laugh and I completely lost it laughing hysterically and basically just closed and sent them all away. Apparently even Jim leaned over to Pastor and went "I think there's something wrong with her." I needed to use the sleep.

-Family Guy/Cosmos War of the Planets
:: Since the failed campfire was outdoors and we started it late instead of watching the second movie in the LOTR trilogy Monday night (and being up 'til like 2) we instead watched our favorite camp movie of all time Cosmo's War of the Planets cause it was much shorter. Don't pretend you've seen it, I'm fairly sure you haven't. Which is a shame. Cause it's so bad that it's good. If you're commentating with the right group of people I should say. Cause you have to commentate otherwise it's super lame....because the characters names change, there are no special effects, the storyline's awful, but we still love it. It came out the same year as Star Wars did and we're thinking the filmmakers saw that and went "well, crap." But whatever, that one finished so early that we threw in a Family Guy Star Wars movie - which I fell asleep to.


Tuesday

-Alarm fail
:: Apparently I was so tired from the night before that I slept through my alarm. I have no recollection of it going off, but Smo heard the bell so we got to breakfast when the teens were getting there. Woops. But Jim and Michael seemed to have it under control.

-Nap Time
:: One of the songs we sing at campfire is called I Just Wanna Be a Sheep. It goes like this:
I just wanna be a sheep, baa baa baa baa
I just wanna be a sheep, baa baa baa baa
I pray the lord my soul to keep
I just wanna be a sheep, baa baa baa baa

As mentioned we were pretty sleep-deprived so by Tuesday Michael and I had changed the words to:
I just wanna go to sleep, nap nap nap nap
I just wanna go to sleep, nap nap nap nap
I pray the lord give me some sleep
I just wanna go to sleep nap nap nap nap

We were so tired that Jim and I actually took a nap for like 20 minutes before going back out for more groceries.

-Campfire redemption
:: Tuesday night's campfire was redemption night and I figured it out. You have to go in with a plan cause otherwise it drags on and they don't want to be there. So we started off with some Pharaoh Pharaoh (anytime you say that title Jim and Steve make a run for the hills cause they don't want to do the dance) moved on to some King Jesus is All, then Hole in the Bucket, took some requests and did Squiters and the Bedbugs (another camp classic) and finished with Someday. Which has become basically our annual theme song and every year it makes me cry. Mostly during the closing service of the youth camp, but teens sing it well too.

-Dance party
:: With teens you can't plan a dance party because they'll think it's lame. However, every year they want one, and I never know when it's going to be. Since Squirt was there Tuesday night again I basically pulled out my laptop and suddenly they were all over with requests. Cupid Shuffle, NSync, Backstreet Boys, Pharrell, and Barbie Girl were among the favorites. That's where most of the teen camp pictures come from, though this year I tried to take more of other stuff and ended up with a ton of board games pics and also a load of flour tag ones.

-More LOTR
:: The last night of camp we ended with the second of the Lord of the Rings trilogy because we did have time. The teens did smores, we had more rootbeer floats (which I avoided) and we basically pulled out everything we had left to snack on to get rid of it.


Wednesday

-Why, oh why
:: I don't know why but every year when Josh shakes my hand and thanks me for my help I get emotional. Josh is our teen camp pastor and he will forever be Josh because one time like 5 years ago I called him Josh and he went "finally, someone who doesn't call me pastor!" Thankfully I wasn't the only emotional one on hand but we only get that way cause we honestly do love camp. I miss it already. Not the hot weather so much or the bugs, frogs and trains that keeps me up late, but interacting with the kids, playing the games, eating good food, teaching the music and skits, making memories, it's all awesome.

-Rock and Roll McDonald's
:: Our final camp tradition is our yearly McDonald's trip. Each year after the closing service at teen camp and after the trailer and our cars are loaded Jim, myself, Steve, Pastor and now Michael stop at McDonald's for sort of a last meal thing. Steve and Michael order lots of food and count calories cause they're listed on the placemats while the rest of us make fun of the amount of food they order. No, actually, we're all dead tired so we joke about camp for about an hour and then head on our ways. It's a nice and relaxing way to end camp and we enjoy it.


Boy Named Sue - Johnny Cash



Time of Your Life - Green Day



All in all it was a successful camp. We're calling it Redemption Year since last year was so bad. Here's hoping that next year's is even better. And that I don't injure my back like that ever again.

Tomorrow will be a list of the skits as usual. Hope you all are having a rockin' summer.

Some people bring spare parts, Popper Boy brings spare cars...

Have lots to post about so I’ll attempt to do them in order.

4th of July is my favorite holiday. Though when my sister told that to my nephew his quick-witted response was "you like it more than Jesus' birth?!"

Did I mention he's only a 3rd grader?

Anyway, for the 4th - my family goes all out. Even my dad gets into it with his lanterns and cherry bombs.

Don’t ask. There’s a lot of family legends involving those particular fireworks.

Anyway, we did tons of parachutes, sparklers, fountains, artillery shells, snakes, crackling balls, and ground blooms and yet I still have leftovers. Except for smoke bombs I’m out of those. Turns out my godson and niece are pyros and blew through two boxes in a single afternoon.

Not bags.

Boxes of those bags.

Apparently they take after me. Even Bex never matches her socks, I’m so proud.

Anyway, after all the gunpowder and glory – and I say glory because one of the neighbors set off a huge firework down the street and my nephew's quick-witted response (yes, same nephew) was “That sounds like glory!” – I had an interesting journey back to my apartment.

So imagine this, you’re driving down the interstate. It’s like 11:00 PM. Pitch dark. You see two trucks in a row going slow and decide to pass them. Mid-pass of the back truck you look over and see a turn signal flashing. Suddenly said truck is pulling into your lane.

That was my adventure on the way home from fireworks. Needless to say I swerved into the median to avoid him, then swerved back to avoid a reflector pole.

So maybe those Defensive Driving courses (aka the 2 STOP classes I’ve taken) were actually worth something.

Had to call the boyfriend at work who then made me get it checked out the next day. Thankfully there was just some grass and mud underneath so they didn’t even charge me. Though it did make me hesitant to drive for a while.

After the 4th came our Motorcar Adventure in Centerville, Iowa. It was supposed to rain all weekend but somehow it contained itself and only ended up pouring Saturday night after we were done.

The boyfriend doesn’t have air conditioning in his box van so we left early Friday. Ended up riding Friday night, then most of the day Saturday and again Sunday morning and afternoon.

It was a lot of fun. Minus the heat that is. 85 degrees may not sound so bad when compared to 90’s, however when you’re out in the sun with no shade or breeze it gets hot fast. Thankfully when we were moving you didn’t notice.

For some reason something always goes wrong when I’m riding with him and his car started acting up. Luckily he had a second in the van so we switched them out. And then got crap for it.

According to his motorcar buddies, apparently, “some people bring spare parts, Popper Boy brings spare cars.”

Don’t ask about the nickname. It’s a long story. And it's spread. I'm apparently now Popper Gal. Or Popper Girl. I get to choose.

I was bummed because one of his buddies didn’t make it there. Actually I think that’s the one that so lovingly dubbed his as Popper Boy. He’s the one making us plan our wedding around his schedule.

Jokingly. I hope.

After the ride this guy sent the boyfriend a picture of a billboard for a jewelry company. It had a picture of a ring with the subtitle: Your Girlfriend Wants Me.

I told him I approved.

Anyway, here are a few pictures of our Motorcar Excursion.









and of the lineup


Yay for panoramas.

After all that fun the boyfriend and I hit up the Paul McCartney concert. We’re both huge Beatles fans and even though it was semi-expensive (although really not all that bad) we figured 1. He’s getting older and how many more tours is he going to go on. 2. He’s not from the states. And 3. When is he going to come here again? Chicago or Denver perhaps but not here. So we went for it.

It was excellent. He played for 2 and a half hours before taking a break. Not bad for a 72-year-old, who by the way, still doesn’t look a day over 50. He had an excellent lineup including his Beatles stuff, his Wings stuff, and a bit of his New stuff. He joked he can tell which songs people want to hear because when the classics start playing all the cameras go up but when the new stuff starts playing they go back down.

After playing for that long he came back for not one, but two encores saying something to the effect of, “you know I have to go home sometime…” But he was excellent, lots of Husker and Nebraska references which were amusing. Played most of my favorite songs, and the boyfriend and I really enjoyed it.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from that:









On to the music:

Gotta go with Paul on this one.

Silly Love Songs - Paul McCartney & Wings


The boyfriend was disappointed cause apparently this is his favorite McCartney song. I told him it could be our first dance song, but he’s stuck on that stalker song by The Police and envisions our wedding party following us around with binoculars and cameras. Which would actually be highly entertaining.

For those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about try actually listening to the lyrics to this song:

Every Breath You Take – The Police


Back to the actual Rec’s

Yesterday - The Beatles


He waited 'til the encores to play that one so we knew he was coming back...

Extended Rec’s

Whilst motorcarring I had my own playlist on repeat that consisted of a ton of Lily Allen. I bought her new album before we left. Here's my favorite from the new album:

As Long As I Got You - Lily Allen


Love it.

I was so proud the boyfriend actually knew who she was. Or one of her songs at least. It’s kind of a big deal to me as she holds the number three spot on my list of favorite artists of all time and no one here knows her. For those of you wondering it goes:

1. Maroon 5
2. She & Him
3. Lily Allen
4. The Wreckers
5. Eminem

Yes, I’m aware it’s a random lineup.

But if you were to change it to current radio it would become:

1. Maroon 5
2. She & Him
3. Lily Allen
4. Karmin
5. Is up for debate. Maybe Cassadee Pope.

Because The Wreckers haven't come up with anything since I was in college and I don't like Em's new stuff.

Sorry.

Have you heard Weird Al’s new song Word Crimes? I feel like it could be my new theme song.



Only online for a week and it's almost at 10 million views...

Alright, that’s all I got. Next up will be camp stuff which always comes with lots of stories to post about. Hope you have a rockin’ week.

Hyvenese = Chinese from Hyvee

Oh the lessons I learn from my coworkers. I've never had their Chinese, but their sushi isn't awful.

I mean, it's not good, but it's not awful.


How does one say goodbye to a friend of 14 years?

From the outside it may appear as if she was only my 7th and 8th grade teacher, but the reality is so much more.

Let’s start from the beginning.

You know how there’s always that one kid that’s better friends with their teacher than their classmates?

The nerd who gets all their jokes and hangs out with them at recess?

That was me.

I blame it on the fact that my siblings are way older than me so I get along better with people who are older.

G Wigger and I bonded over the TV show Friends – the first of many shows we bonded over – and it went from there. I used to write her notes and draw her pictures. I’m pretty sure I was the favorite cause she let me where sunglasses indoors. Again, nerd.

When asked about that later she responded “you have to pick your battles.”

She put up with my tantrums when it came to math – it was not my favorite subject – and even after school got out we stayed in touch. Jump forward a few years and you’ll hit where the nerd in me decided that Jim and I could take over Camp J – no problem. Ha!

We invaded her classroom almost daily for an entire summer cleaning out boxes, updating files, creating schedules, assigning counselors, stuffing lanyards, and then sorting t-shirts and sending out mailings. She called herself Camp J’s “number one fan” and helped out even though she avoided the actual camp like the plague.

It was during all this Camp J prep that 2G was formed.

Every year my old high school hosts a golf tournament as a fundraiser for the school. We decided – having no golf experience whatsoever – that we would start a team of our own and compete. The team was made up of Pastor (our leader and the only one with actual golf talent from the start), Jim O, G-Wigger and myself. We came up with the nicknames Blackstone, Dash Riprock, Homey G-Wigger, and Choot ‘em Lizbet, respectively.

Eventually we’d put those nicknames on bright orange t-shirts so you could see us at all times.



Though, we were told, you didn’t need to see us to know where we were cause we were the loudest ones there so you could hear us from across the course. But hey, our drinking team has a golfing problem – what can we say?

Two out of the four years we’ve competed I was unceremoniously thrown from the cart. Though that might have been partly my fault since I was leaning out to grab wayward golf balls.

Plus I had to save Bertha. Don’t ask.

But it was worth the bumps and bruises.

Golf isn’t the only sport 2G competes in. Softball is actually our specialty. We play scrappy but we dominate. Every game G-Wigger and I would warm up together and after every game we would stop for icecream.

We told her that since the golf tournament is in the summer that she should come back for it every year, however since softball games are usually on Sunday nights in the fall that won’t be an option.

Our team will never be the same.

Sports weren’t our only thing recently. We’d go to movies – see post “At least the baby stopped crying” – or out for jalapeno margaritas.

The adventures are so numerous she even has her own tag. "Homey G Wigger". And only my favorite people get their own tag.

So how does one say goodbye to someone who’s had such an impact on one’s life?

I could thank her I suppose. For sticking with me through the good times and the bad. Tell her how grateful I am for all the times she was there for me. Not just for math but for everything.

But I still feel like that that doesn’t begin to cover how much of an influence she’s had on my life.

So I’ve decided instead of goodbye, it’s just so long for now. We’re gonna pen pal it up. And it’s not the end. She’ll be back for big events – confirmations, golf, and a wedding if it ever happens.

And that makes it easier.




Okay, on to happier, less emotional things.

Took a trip out to Illinois to visit the BFF. Sketch and Edit’s Excellent Adventure. Take Two.

Or is it three? Whatever, either way it rocked.

Minus the 9 hour drive it took to get there, that is.

We jammed. Made camo cake.

Check it out.







Gotta have orange frosting with a camo cake. It actually tasted pretty good.

Other cooking adventures included booze popsicles. Looks like sherbet, tastes like vodka.

Holy crap those were strong. It probably had to do with the fact that it wasn't just vodka it was also mixed with tequila. Knocked us on our butts.

Non-cooking adventures were catching up on Grey's, and we watched a bit of Raising Hope.

Which I’d seen part of like one episode one time, so now of course I had to check out season one from the library. It’s actually quite entertaining.

And then of course we hit up the races cause her boyfriend has a car. Like in the races. With a driver. Who's pretty good. Got second in his heat, but then it got rained out. So we jammed in the trailer. See Facebook for pictures.

It was good to see her. It had been like a year. Or two. More like two.

That should change.



What else? The boyfriend and I are doing great. We’ve been going to a lot of races lately. We hit up the World of Outlaws the other day in Greenwood and my guy won! After I had bought his t-shirt. And it’s awesome, it’s like a pit crew shirt with all the advertisements on it.

Plus he signed it.

I was proud that I picked him and that I got the shirt before he won the race instead of after. Plus he beat the guy who always wins and you gotta root for underdogs.

Races aren’t the only fun things we’re going to, a few weeks ago we went to my sister-in-law’s surprise 40th birthday party. The surprise part being the event we dragged her to Omaha for. It was a Murder Mystery party at a hotel – professionally done, it was fun.

We all had to pick aliases. I was Regina Philange.

Make me proud people, make me proud.

Mom was Cher. Dad was John Wayne. After picking the killer’s name as his alias and being told it was already in use (but not told it was the killer) the boyfriend went with Dr. Emmett Brown from Back to the Future.

I know, how does one pick the name of the killer out of the like 80 million names available? It was amusing.

The problem with their setup was that you had to be paying attention to nametags to figure out who-done-it cause the detectives who were supposed to be solving the crime did nothing but distract you. But that’s okay, we went for the fun of it and it was fun, even though I was forced to walk the cat walk to prove my innocence.

Long story.

This week we went fireworks shopping. And you know me with my fireworks. Hit up my mother ship. aka the Dorm Mom's stand. Got some good deals. I'm stoked!

After the 4th he and I are taking a trip to Iowa for another motorcar excursion so look forward to those highlights....

What else?

College World Series! My team won! Go Black Gold! The Cool Aunt was also for Vandy so anytime they did something good we’d text “black gold!” We saw them play live one of the years we went so that’s what we like them.

And speaking of a lot going on, I’ve been working tons on camp stuff. I’m getting excited, it’s coming up! Again this year we have more boys than girls but that may change since they have ‘til July 7th to turn everything in.

I'm really excited for my 7th and 8th graders skit. No HeeHaw this year but they're still singing. Don't worry, they won't hate this one.

And Smo is coming this year. I'm so excited! Gonna be my Skits and Worship helper. Which is good cause there will be lots...

Scale of Awesome’s for you:

Edge of Tomorrow


Scale of Awesome says 7/10. Interesting premise but not a huge fan of Tom Cruise.

Bowfinger


Scale of Awesome says 5/10. So horrible. Yet funny.

300


Scale of Awesome says 5/10. Am I the only person on this planet that didn't like this movie? I feel like it. It's only redeeming quality?



Gerard Butler. And the "This is Sparta" kick. That was badass.

On to the music:

Strong Enough - Cher


a month later and it's still in my head. awesomeness.

and one for an upcoming concert:

From Me To You - Beatles


so excited! debating what my favorite Beatles song is. this is one of many. Probably Hey Jude. Maybe Yesterday. Blackbird. Day Tripper. Paperback Writer. Hello Goodbye. Let it Be. Love Me Do. Yellow Submarine. She Loves You.

Too many good ones to choose from...

And I'm out. I promise it won't take me another month to post.

Hope you took your heart pills cause I’m coming out.

Lots to post about, let’s start with the big stuff.

So we went to see Cher. And Cyndi Lauper.

Yes, I know you’re all jealous. It was fabulous. She was fabulous. She said so herself. She is, after all, an icon. She can say whatever she wants, and she was right about that one.

Cyndi wasn’t bad herself. And I mean herself. Cher was surrounded by backup dancers, she had costume changes, and sequins galore. Cyndi was just Cyndi and a band.

And she held her own. She can still belt it.

But Cher was my favorite. And she sang all my favorites! Except Bang Bang, that one she skipped but that’s okay.

She made up for it with some good one-liners. Here are a few of my favorites:

Gonna squeeze this show in cause I’m off to Valentino's...

Hope you took your heart pills cause I’m coming out.

With just a piece of dental floss to keep me from plunging to my death…at 68.

What’s your granny doing tonight?

Been a gazillion years since my first Farewell Tour, and I was really old then.

People ask, is this your last farewell tour? Well shit, I can’t come back I’ll be dead. And well, some of you will be too.

I pissed off half the young female singers in this universe by saying "follow this bitches!"

I’ve been drinking this forever…Eisenhower was president. (about Dr. Pepper)

It's it's a white wine spritzer. Or a white trash white wine spritzer.

This sad-ass little cooler... (apparently that's an inappropriate gift for an icon)

And I’m so fabulous.

Why do you sit up there, you can’t see shit! and also the party is down here...

Here are some cool pics as well. Keep in mind we were way up there in the stands.



Cyndi Lauper




And the fabulous Cher




I should have taken a picture of the drunk chick in front of us. She was a fantastic dancer. Not really. Way off the beat. And it was more like swaying with random arm movements than actual dancing. I'm surprised she was still standing by the end of the night, but it was quite enjoyable to watch.

So, let me reiterate, Cher is fabulous and will remain fabulous. And I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a third farewell tour since every time she said this was her last one she winked and had her fingers crossed.

One way to stay in shape – though the dancers did most of the actual dancing.

Anyway, I went to see her with the boyfriend and my sisters. We had a lot of fun dancing it up. Second Sister and I got pretty into it, but the boyfriend and Oldest Sister joined in on occasion.

Mom and the Cool Aunt were there also, practically on the opposite side we were so there was a lot of waving going on.

The whole weekend was a lot of fun. The next day the boyfriend and I hit up the races – went to the pit after and met some of the drivers so that was fun. I still need a shirt that I can wear when I go to see the BFF as she is taking me to the races as well.

I know, how we both got sucked into those I’ll never know. I can’t come up with a valid explanation as it is other than our boyfriends are hooked and we’re supportive people. Mostly.

So that was this weekend. Oh and we watched a crap ton of Forensic Files as it was marathoned all weekend. It’s the boyfriend’s new favorite show even though it stopped airing new ones in 2010. Interesting stuff.

The weekend before that was fun too cause it was Juwanna’s wedding!

The boyfriend was out of town so I took SMO as my date. We danced the night away. I joked though because every wedding you go to everyone gets all choked up at the vows, nope, not Juwanna. She laughed her way through. I was so proud.

But everyone said the right name so it worked out.

It was pretty much a high school reunion so I got to see a lot of my old friends and some cool teachers too.

Even convinced one of them to hit up the photo booth with me. “Only cause it’s you.” Aw, I felt special. SuperHumann. She was my rock all through high school. And the reason I wanted to teach high school English. Before I went to college and said “screw that” that is.

Too many hoops to jump through. Plus me and children just don’t mix.

Good thing I work at a library and direct a youth camp, huh?

Joking.

Anyway, the wedding was great. We ate lots of food and danced the night away. Afterward SMO stayed over at my place and we jammed out for the weekend.

Was a nice and relaxing holiday.

Those are the big ones. I’m trying to think of other stuff…TAB Web Series is completed and up on the teen section of the library’s website…summer reading has started and work is overloaded with people…hmmmm… oh, the storms.

Tuesday was like storm central here so I ended up crashing with Oldest Sister since she has a basement and I don’t. But I left my cat at the apartment cause she has a dog. Does that make me a bad person?

Scale of Awesome’s for you:


The Neighbors


2/10 I officially hate Seth Rogan. So does the boyfriend. We hated him before this but we saw that good people were in this one so we gave it a chance. Oh my god, just no. Don’t do it, it’s that bad. Though not as bad as This Is The End.

Her


4/10 I feel bad for saying that cause I like the idea of the movie, I just don’t like how it turned out.

Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug


6/10 Better than the first one but I still feel like they’re dragging these out so they can make as many movies as possible.

Monuments Men


6/10 Also just okay. I was hoping for better, though it did have its moments.


Songs of the Week:

Don't Stop - 5 Seconds of Summer


diggin' it.

and of course...

Believe - Cher


my favorite of all of hers - followed closely by If I Could Turn Back Time, but that's mostly cause of this scene here:



tioooommme....

and i'm out.

Do I wanna know why there's a bra in the lost and found?

Happy Belated Women's Murder Club Day!!



Cheers!

I know. Fandom's still here. Get used to it.

We're not going anywhere.

Wow. So it's been a while.

I was thinking about attempting to do a week straight of posting and then I think...how did I used to do that every day? When did I sleep?

Never, really.

Though now I'm lame and go to bed at like 11 so....that needs to change.

We'll see.

Okay, so a lot to ramble about. Guess I'll try going in reverse order.

Today = Wednesday

Day off #1. I have tomorrow off too. I know, it's weird, but I'm loving it.

Not sure what to do with myself so I went running.

You can pick up your jaws, it actually happened. I need to start being healthier cause right now I am the opposite of that even though I have lost weight from giving up pop - though that wasn't the intention it was more to see if I could actually do it - and I also got a perfect score on my blood test.

Didn't even study, rock solid man.

But yeah, the exercising thing is long overdue. On Sunday I had half an hour lunch and work and of course nothing is open (and what was I wasn't motivated to go get) so I ate in the following order: Peanut M&M’s (breakfast), Cheeze Its, and Peanut Butter Crackers (lunch), and then Regular M&M’s (afternoon snack) all from the vending machine.

Our substitute supervisor was making fun of me. I was also in zombie mode that whole weekend so that didn't help.

And speaking of substitutes, the one she's substituting for - aka BossLady - is bailing on me for another branch.

I know.

Everyone my age leaves.

First it was Fearless Leader, then it was Slim Shady, now it's Boss Lady. Next it'll be the New Guy.

Just watch.

Not fair.

But it's okay. I've still got the Queen of the Known Universe there to keep me sane for the day-to-day stuff. Plus the Queen of Awesome is around - though not physically in the building.

Plus KT is a cool cat so it'll be fine. I'm sure.

But that begs the question....who's gonna be the new supervisor?

Someone from within or outside the system....hmmm.....

Stay tuned.

Anyway, where was I?

Oh yeah, today, so went running, cleaned more of the apartment - aka did a bunch of laundry, dusted a bit, I'm putting off cleaning the kitchen. I think that's my least favorite part of cleaning. No idea why. Is that just me or do other people actually like cleaning their kitchen?

Got some groceries and that was that.

I was gonna watch the second Hobbit but I have yet to get around to it.

Plus I lack the motivation. I'm sorry, the first one was just so looooooooong!

But again, was comparing it the original trilogy, I need to think of it as its own separate entity. Then maybe I'll get through it without fast-forwarding.

Yesterday = Tuesday

Had a TAB meeting in the afternoon. We filmed the rest of Todd Sparkles (our web series) and almost caught an actual fist fight on camera. I'm telling you, it's never boring in the library.

Monday...okay so I don't remember the exact days the rest of this stuff went down but here are the highlights in reverse order.

There was Mother's Day. "Take a picture of me and my creme brulee."



Okay mom. Pretty sure that's her new favorite food. I love Bubby in that shot. I got her books on Alaska and paid for her supper. And then she got me and my brother presents cause apparently everyone else got gifts and she didn't want us to feel left out. Merry UnMother's Day. Kind of like Merry Unbirthday. I dig it. Yay socks!

As mentioned I was a total zombie this weekend cause I didn’t fall asleep until 3 one of the nights. I blame Mixology. I couldn’t sleep so I turned it on. Then I really couldn’t sleep. Yes, I know it got cancelled. Along with many others but I really didn’t watch any of the others so I’m okay with that. Except Trophy Wife. I did watch that. I love Malin Akerman. She’s da bomb.

Do people still say that? I lost all my street smarts when I became a librarian.

Perhaps I’ll pull out my skateboard and hit up the park down the road. Bond with some hooligans. Catch up on my lingo. Nothing could go wrong in that scenario, right? Hey, it's exercise!

Speaking of librarians, have I mentioned how much I love the blog Librarian Problems lately? It’s fantastically funny and completely true at the same time. Go here.

You get jewels like these:

A PATRON PROUDLY ANNOUNCES THAT HE ENJOYS READING BOOKS WHILE ON THE TOILET


And this:

AFTER HANDLING A STICKY BOOK


And this:

WHEN A PATRON BENDS OVER TO LOOK AT THE BOTTOM SHELF AND JUNK FALLS OUT


And this:

INVESTIGATING A PORN COMPLAINT


Oh yeah, it happens.

There’s also apparently a series on Hulu called The Librarians but I have yet to check it out.

Before that....oh remember on Halloween how my car headlight kept going out and turning back on? I got pulled over twice in one night for it? Well the blinking headlight is back and ticking me off. I knew something was wrong cause it was darker on the left than it was on the right so when I got home I left it on and noticed it was out again. Natural response? I kicked it and guess what! It started working.

Take that world.

Guess violence is the right answer in some situations – though I wouldn’t recommend it. Plus I don’t know how long it will last. The boyfriend took a look and attempted to fix it but the thing about my car is that just to get access to the light you’d have to take off the bumper and we were like ehhh…we’ll do it later. Since it keeps coming back - despite my handy dandy violent tendencies - I'm getting it checked out tomorrow.

What else?

Bubby’s Confirmation - myself, Second Sister, and my brother were all his sponsors so we were pretty proud. He knew all the answers cause he’s smart like that. I was having flashbacks to me having to answer those questions. I still know most of them. I was lucky cause when I did it there were like six of us, but when Second Sister got confirmed she was the only one so she got all the questions. We joked that because of our seating order we could predict what commandment we would get and would recite it over and over until he got to us. Or maybe that was just me. Anyway, we got him a bible and all that. Well, Second Sister bought it but it was from all of us. I got him candy, a table tennis set and cheeseballs.

Cause who wouldn't want cheeseballs for their confirmation? Oh and cash too, now he can buy more cheeseballs.

Before that was Bek’s dance recital. We go every year, she’s super cute. And of course the Men in Black performed at intermission again. They’re the dads who drop their kids off at dance class. I told my brother-in-love that I was thoroughly disappointed that he hasn’t joined in yet. We would totally be in support of that. Though we’d probably also film it and post it places so perhaps that’s why he won’t do it. He’s smart like that. This year’s theme was the circus so of course that meant the inclusion of Afro Circus which meant that was stuck in my head for the rest of the night. Week. Month. It still hasn’t gone away.

If you have no idea what I’m talking about watch this.



There. Catchy, right? For the first hour maybe. Then it’s just obnoxious.

Before all that was girls night with the Queen of Awesome. I am her loyal subject. We had Indian food – it was excellent, though I took half of it home. We talked of libraries and families and of course her tiny children, then she came to jam out at my apartment and met my fat cat.

And he didn't bite her! That's new. He must really like her.

That was the same day the Camp J website went LIVE!! Which means I’ve started getting registrations online – yay for less paperwork. This year we’re actually enforcing the end date for registrations and not accepting late ones which is so much less stressful for us because we’ll know the exact number of t-shirts to order instead of having to over order just in case of late signups. I can also do accurate cabin assignments and not have to worry about switching people around at the last minute AND I can write my skits in advance instead of the Thursday night before camp (which starts Friday at noon). Which is huge for me. The theme this year is Gracebook cause God would friend you. Gonna have to incorporate that into the skits somehow. Ideas?

Did I already ramble to you about the presentation for the stakeholders? For the Strategic Plan? KT and I were tasked with putting together a presentation on innovative library services and programming. We had help with the research and then had to present it to community stakeholders. Library Board President and Vice President included.

I hate public speaking, it is probably my number one fear. Above death and creepy crawly creatures. And people who actually liked the third Mummy movie. And the oncoming zombie apocalypse. Keep calm and flame on.

Anyway KT and I presented and I faked that all was okay until the day of when Superwoman realized the amount of my fear but made me do it anyway. And she said we did good and now wants us to do more stuff. I hope that was a joke cause that's not cool.

And speaking of more stuff at work, I got assigned Food Drive duty again. Yay? No, I'm excited, it's me and KT. I'm just not looking forward to driving big pickup trucks across town and not being able to see out my rearview mirror. And turning around in parking lots. And having to lug full barrels all over town. But other than that....it'll be fine.

Any suggestions for contests?  We did the sculptures and collecting loose change. I think it'd be fun to attempt to fill one of the supervisors offices with food. I'm sure that'd get nixed, but it would be something new and differetn.

That's what I got for highlights. Here are some Scale of Awesome entries for you. First up:

Mississippi Burning


That movie was wildly depressing, I can't believe that stuff actually happened. Scale of Awesome says 6/10, but I do love Gene Hackman.

Can’t Buy Me Love


Funny to see McDreamy playing a nerd. I didn't realize that Drive Me Crazy (Nick Cannon, Christina Milian) was based off that. Scale of Awesome says 8/10.

I was gonna have a full blown 80's movie marathon - have Footloose, Better off Dead, and Say Anything all checked out - but again, have yet to get to them.

Drive Me Crazy


Look familiar? Yes, didn't realize until about halfway through. Guess a lot of movies are based off that one.

Scale of Awesome 6/10. Not as good, but it had its moments.

I feel like there's more but I'm totally blanking. I'll add them later.

On to the music.

Begin Again – Taylor Swift


I know some people don't like her but I do. And I'm now officially in love with this song.

Paperback Writer - Beatles


oh...have I mentioned we got Paul McCartney tickets? Um yeah. Once in a lifetime thing that he's coming here and the boyfriend and I are huge Beatles fans so we went for it. I'm stoked. Debating what my favorite song of theirs is. It's like Sophie's Choice. Cause I like this one, Hey Jude obviously, Can't Buy Me Love, Love Me Do, Eight Days a Week, Hello Goodbye...there are too many good ones to decide.

Gonna have to brush up on my Wings music cause I'm pretty sure the only one that I know know is...

Live or Let Die


Looks pretty fun live, gonna be excellent.

And that's all I got. More adventures will follow I'm sure.


oh, for those of you still wondering about the title, stories could be written about the items in our lost and found. i'll leave it at that.