Christmas-Time is Here

Well, there is this hilariously funny clip from some older Saturday Night Lives... They did it for more than one year. But try as I may, I could not find it on youtube, which is sad. It consisted of Jimmy Fallon, Horatio Sanz, Chris Katan, and Tracey Morgan dressed up in random Christmas outfits and singing the song "Christmas Time is Near". The link will take you to a transcript of the skit, and that's the best I could do. Actually seeing it would be so much better, but I could not find it. Hopefully you can still get a chuckle out of the whole thing, and if you can picture those four people doing the skit, then you can imagine that it was pretty funny.

Anyway, Stefanie (my roommate) and I decorated for Christmas last night. It was fun. We pulled out my "Rockin' Christmas" CDs with Christmas songs from the 50s and 60s. Great stuff, like the Chipmunks' "Christmas Song" and Elvis' "Blue Christmas". And even better, "Jingle Bells" performed by the Singing Dogs. Stefanie laughed and said, "That is awful!" I had forgotten about that particular song, but seriously... It says it's the singing dogs, and it delivers. It's dogs barking the song "Jingle Bells."

In other good news, I got my new cell phone! Yay! I no longer have to talk exclusively on an ear-piece. And it was free, since I signed up with Verizon for 2 more years.

Today is the day April and I do our case-study for our Public Libraries class. So, rather than have me drive back and forth to Birmingham two days in a row, I'm just going to stay at April's tonight and she, her daughter, and I will have a girls' night. Should be fun. Tomorrow we will have to do a little more of the case study and then work on the project to present on Monday. And then by this time next week, I'll be headed in to the big city of New York! I'm getting totally excited! So I thought I would share my excitement with you :).

My Father the Hero

Okay, first off, I have to say that map is totally cool. It is interesting to see the locations from which people are visiting my blog. Interesting and weird.

Okay, so my dad is the greatest. He has always been a Mr. Fix-it kind of guy. He has always enjoyed building things (he built our wood dining table, a wooden rocking horse for my sister when she was little, and made each of his 4 kids a wood car). He has always liked old cars and fixing them up (he still has a 1960s Willy's Jeep and an old Model-A). And he also likes the Ford Pinto. He has three of them (yes, three) parked in his driveway. One of them was my first car, for which he paid $700. Julie's brother Jason saw the inside of my Pinto once and was really impressed. My dad had replaced the rug, recovered the seats, and the dashboard so that it was new-looking on the inside. Anyway, I digress. The reason my dad likes the Pinto so much is becuase he knows how to work on it. Our family had a 1980 station wagon Pinto that they bought brand new. He still has it. That is the car in which I learned how to drive. My dad's philosophy was that, if you learn how to drive a stick-shift first, then you can drive anything out there. And he was right. (By the way, I have managed to get off topic again).

So, since September, I'd been driving around without any blinkers. On my way to Dothan in September, in the POURING rain (so torrential I could barely see in front of me even at only 10 mph), I noticed that I couldn't tell if my hazards were flashing from inside my car (on the dashboard). Then, lo and behold, I couldn't tell from my dashboard when (or if) my turn signals were flashing. So, when I got up to another car at a stoplight, I played with my lights so I could see in the reflection of the other car if anything was working. Well, nothing was. So, I just was very cautious for the next 3 months and managed to drive all over the place with no working blinkers. People suggested it was the fuse, but I never bothered to check (in all honesty). So, when I got to Dothan this time, I told my dad about it on Monday morning, before I was supposed to meet Kristin for lunch. I figured maybe it was a fuse like everyone had suggested. Well, he looked at the fuse (that was the easy part) and it was fine. So, he was like, "Maybe it's the flasher." Well shoot, I didn't even know there was a part on the car called the flasher (other than the hazard lights, which we, probably incorrectly, sometimes call flashers). Anyway, my dad ended up having to take apart a lot of my car to get to this small piece. I kept telling him not to worry about it; that I would take it in somewhere so he didn't spend his time on it. He said, "Hila, that will cost you a lot of money." And he kept working away. Well, it came time for me to go to meet Kristin for lunch, so in the end, I had to drive my old car (the green Pinto pony). I meant to get a picture of me driving it, but I forgot. Anyway, it was kind of weird to drive my old standard-shift car. But, I warmed up to it quickly. Good memories. And by the time I got home that evening, my car was fixed. And the blinkers worked (and still do). Yay! And the total cost to me: $2.76. For the replacement flasher thing. I love my dad. He will never ever ask me to spend money on something if he thinks he can fix it. And he'll try and try until he either fixes it or until he knows for sure he cannot. I have spent many of my adult years realizing what unconditional love is. And part of it is sacrifice. And I have parents who were willing to sacrifice for their children. Who still are willing. I'm a big girl... I have a job and credit cards. My dad could have totally told me to go take it in to get it fixed. But instead, he took his time and did it for me. To save me money. As I look back on my childhood and even the past 8 or so years of my adulthood, I see how much my parents love me and my siblings. How thankful I am for parents who taught me what unconditional love is. How grateful I am to have parents who taught us how to work, how to act, and how sacrifice. Even if we don't always do it right, they taught us right. And I know there is nothing they won't do for me if they can do it.

The Rest of My Trip

Basically, the rest of my trip to Dothan went well. I went to lunch with my friend Donna from my job before this one. Donna is a blast. She can always crack me up.And of course, we had Thanksgiving Dinner. My dad and I drove to Georgia to have dinner with his cousins. It was nice to be with a lot of extended family. There is just something really neat about reconnecting with people you haven't seen in a while. It's also neat to be around people who share a common past.

And aside from the fact that I always look like I have a big head :), I think it's a pretty good picture.

Back to the Grindstone

Well, I am back at work and back to the old grindstone. The visit to Dothan was great. I don't want to make this one too long, but I do have pictures to share. And I'll do the Thanksgiving pictures tomorrow. So, Stacy's baby shower was great. Becky and Kira put on a good one. The food was fabulous, and I took pictures to prove it:And here's a picture of me and Stacy:

And, as promised, there was also 80s day for me and Kristin. This was tons of fun, and I think she and I created a memory that will last forever :).

(For the record: the red ones are Kristin's, and they are authentic 1984 jelly shoes with a real rock still wedged in the heel!)

And just for a dash of humor:

I do have a couple more pictures to post, and so I will do that tomorrow. That will be Thanksgiving and my visit with Donna. But in the meantime, hopefully you enjoyed these :).

Hailing From Dothan

Hello from Dothan everyone!!! I thought I would write briefly and include a few pictures so that you aren't flooded with them next Monday when I return to work. I should add that, as I sit here writing this, I am sporting a side ponytail. Yep, yep. Kristin and I have done our 80s pictures. They will show up at some point, but I can't promise it will be this week. I will say, though, that I walked through the entire library (HLML) with my side pony and jelly shoes. I'm sure people thought I was a nut, but I think that just means I probably fit in at the public library ;).

Friday's drive was so easy. The fall colors are gorgeous, and I took some pictures to show the contrast of the greens with the oranges, reds, and yellows. Here's my favorite one (keep in mind, it was taken while I was hurtling down the Interstate at about 76 mph :) ):

I was amazed at how little traffic I hit. I guess by leaving so early, I really missed the rush of holiday traffic. Thank goodness! Actually, I only hit bad traffic once I got to Dothan. This town is growing like a weed!! The huge shopping center with Bed, Bath, and Beyond is pretty much done and open. Also in there is Dick's Sporting Goods (your favorite place, Elka), Barnes & Noble, Ross Dress for Less, and Target. So it's pretty massive, and you can imagine the traffic situation it has created. I went by and visited Gammy and Steve at the print shop, then walked across the street to the library and saw Kristin and Miss Hilda. Gotta love Miss Hilda. She cracks me up. I went to my dad's, got a shower, and then met Heath at the medical center and we visited his cousin who had a baby Thursday. She also has a 10-month old who just adores Heath. See:

It also just so happens that my friend Karen is the charge nurse in Labor and Deliver at the medical center. So she saw us come in and was so surprised to see me, because, of course, she wasn't expecting me! So after we visited his cousin, we went and found Karen on her dinner break and visited with her for a few minutes. So that was really neat too. Then Heath and I went to eat at Cracker Barrell for dinner. Then Heath gave me my birthday present. He had gotten me a moleskine notebook, so that I can keep it with me and jot down my ideas for the novel I'm going to write one day ;). I guess they are pretty popular now. Heath got one with graph paper inside it for himself, for his school stuff. Mine has regular lined paper.

Then I went back to my dad's, and shortly thereafter, my dad got home from work. And you know what? Gotta love my dad ;). He bought me an 80s CD. Not only that, he also decided he likes some of the songs on it, so he's going to record the ones he likes. I never thought I would hear the day my dad would say that "Karma Chameleon" was a good song. He told me to stop making fun of him. I wasn't. I just couldn't help but laugh. This is from the man who, when I was about 7 or 8, told me to never listen to Alice Cooper. At the time, my response was, "Who's she?" Hahaha... Gotta love my dad :).

So, although I can't promise when, here's that which you have to look forward: Stacy's baby shower, Heath's birthday dinner, 80s day with Kristin. And that's only the things that have happened so far!!! And it's only Monday!

The Big Freeze

Well, this morning was frozen again. Plus I had to pack up my car in preparation for my trip to Dothan. So I did not factor-in ice-scraping time this morning. And it was COLD. I still have not bought the de-icer. Which I conveniently remembered when I saw all the ice on my entire car again this morning. My hand was ready to fall off by the time I was done scraping.

I really do have some of the strangest dreams. I don't remember all of them, but the dream I had right before waking up was as follows: I was in Target with Christina buying a baby shower gift for Stacy. Only it turned out I grabbed the wrong thing off the shelf -- it wasn't on the registry. Which baffled me, because when I pulled it off the shelf, I looked at it and it clearly said it was onesies for 1-3 months old. But by the time I pushed my cart over to the terminal (okay, because for some reason, Target turned into an airport), I realized my mistake. So I went back to the baby aisles, only to find Stacy there. I asked her if she really wanted the 1-3 month onesies, because I'd already paid for the 20-22 month onesies. She said she just didn't want three different onesies: one for 20 months, one for 21 months, and one for 22 months (yes, I know they don't come like this, but in my strange little dream world, they did). So I was going to make the exchange, but I couldn't find the right ones... they were all sold out. Well, I finally either give up or find what I need and I start pushing my cart back to the terminal, because I know I'm going to end up missing my flight. I suddenly notice that Christina has put a cute little pair of lion socks into the cart also, so I make a mental note that I need to still pay for these (they were $2 and change), since I exchanged the other thing. Anyway, I get back to the terminal and I'm getting ready to put my suitcase up on the conveyer belt for them to scan it, and the security guard is like, "What flight are you taking?" He gestures outside, and to my horror, my flight has just left. I start crying hysterically (literally). I'm mad and frustrated. So someone with me (I'm guessing Christina, since she was with me before), brings me a map of the airport, which is ironically shaped like one of the Hawaiian Islands. However, this seems perfectly normal to me, because in my mind, we are in Hawaii. Anyway, eventually another flight starts boarding (and I have no idea where all those people came from, because they hadn't been there previously) and I call out really loud: "Where is your flight going?" Because I'm thinking maybe it's close enough (I assume to Dothan) that I can take that flight and not be stuck in the Hawaiian-shaped Target/airport in Hawaii. The passenger's response is: Fort Hood. And somehow, my mind is able to decipher that they are going to Texas. While the passengers on the plane that had landed start to deplane and come into the terminal, I see April. I wave at her, but she doesn't recognize me. She starts talking to whoever is with me, and I'm sure by this point it's not Christina anymore. And then I start looking around the airport terminal and start noticing a bunch of people from Panama that I knew. One of them is my old friend Cathleen. Also there is a kid whose last name was Scribner, but I can't remember if his first name was Charles or if that was his brother. Brad would know... Anyway, so I go over and start talking to Cathleen. I ask her how she's been and what she's doing with herself these days. And wonder of wonders, she tells me she's a catalog librarian! I am shocked, and I tell her, "Wow!! Did you know I'm in library school right now?" And she responds that she did know that (although how that could be true is beyond me) and I then tell her that I work in the Cataloging Department where I work now, and that I know that's not really job for me; that I like working with the public. And then my alarm starts going off (again) and I wake up.

Now here's the really strange part. That entire dream was dreamt in 9 minutes. I know this because my alarm starts going off at 6 every morning. I hit snooze, and after 9 minutes, it goes off again. So, I remember hitting snooze at 6:27 (which I really shouldn't have). And when I woke up, it was 6:36. So I wonder if our minds work faster and if we are able to interpret data faster subconsciously than we are consciously. Because I don't know that all of that could have happened in 9 minutes in real life, but time did not seem to be off-kilter in the dream. Things seemed to be going at normal pace. Anyway... Just interesting. And weird that my mind makes dreams like that.

Anyway, I am headed to Dothan when I get off work today. I'm dreading the 4 hour drive. But it will be fun when I get there ;). I'll post whenever I have access to Internet, but it won't be every day next week, I'm sure. So, in case I dont' get around to it at all, HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!! (Gobble Gobble ;))

Forgot

I got so carried away with the nothingness that I blogged earlier that I forgot to add this, which I had planned to add since last night...

It was interesting, because yesterday I blogged about how we need each other, and how no man is an island. Well, each night before bed (because I'm too lazy to get out of bed early enough in the morning to do anything extra), I read a daily thought from this book my mom got me for Christmas last year called "I Will Follow Thee: Daily Inspirations from the New Testament." The scripture reference for yesterday's quote was James 2:17-20. And this is the commentary included with that scripture:

"When we return to our Heavenly Father, he does not want us to come back alone. He wants us to return with honor with our families and those whom we have helped along the road of life. In preparing this message, it has become very clear to me that the true nature of the gospel plan is the interdependence we have upon one another in this life and the estate in which we now live." --Robert D. Hales, "We Can't Do It Alone," Ensign 1975.

Anyway, I thought it was neat that my inspirational thought for yesterday linked up so well with what I had blogged earlier.

A True Nerd

Well, I finally made it down to scan in all my pictures. And this time I remembered the pictures. Okay, before I post any of the pictures, here's what I'm going to tell you about class last night: I gave my presentation. It went well. We had a good discussion afterwards. I'm now coasting in that class as well. And, to make up for my morning class running late, we got out of class last night early. And we had a thunderstorm here last night. Very rainy with lots of thunder and lightning. Of course, this brought the temperature drop. We spent the last couple of days hanging out in the high 70s and low 80s. Actually nice weather. This morning it was back in the 30s. We have unpredictable weather here :). And also, since I promised I'd post the original Strive For Five picture of all three of us on the scale when I got it, here it is (please note our weight is clearly displayed -- well, in case you can't click the picture, it says 432.8):And now for the moment for which you've all been waiting, it's the pictures I've been talking about for weeks!:

(see, I was cute once :))

And now for the ultimate icky photo. This one was actually taken when I was 12 (not 10 as I previously stated). I was a true nerd. I was in the Talented and Gifted program (TAG) in elementary school, because my grades were good and I excelled, and so I was able to be pulled out of class once a week to do other projects. One year I, along with several others, put on a play about nature (until recently (actually, I may only think it's recent, but I'm sitting here thinking it might have been back in 1998, when we moved to Dothan), I still had the shirt my mom made for it with raindrops and a sun -- too bad I didn't keep that). Another year, I had a massive project in which I researched and reported on the endangered mammals of Panama. I still have this project; in fact, I came across it in that box of memorabilia through which I looked the other week. I had to make transparencies and stuff on a copy machine. That was cutting-edge technology at the time ;). I was in 5th grade, so that would have been around 1991. Anyway, I was originally only going to present that thing to my class, and maybe the other 5th grade class. But, by the end of the whole thing, I think I had presented to most of the classes at Los Rios Elementary, as well having to present to a group of people at the annual Science Fair at the elementary school. Perhaps this is why I have no problem getting up in front of people to speak... I have seriously been doing it, through church, school, and other things, for many many years. Anyway, the other project was the Campbell Soup labels (which is why I'm holding those up in this lovely picture). We sent notes home with each child at the school to have parents send any Campbell Soup labels in, and when we reached a certain number, the school could turn them in for some neat piece of equipment. I'm not entirely sure what our school ended up getting, but I know we reached our goal. Part of my job was to go around from classroom to classroom and collect the labels. Then I had to count them. Oh, also in other nerdy elementary school news... I was also in Math Olympiads, and I won a trophy the year this photo was taken. I was not expecting it. Apparently a kid named Derek (I think I mentioned him before, because I had a serious crush on him that year) and I scored the highest overall in Math Olympiads.

Okay, I know this post has gotten way out of hand (seriously, this one was supposed to be short because I had 'nothing' to say). But this just has been floating around in my mind since I told you about the endangered animals of Panama presentations. That year (5th grade), I dressed up in skirts and stuff (and leggings, for all you 80s lovers out there) every day because I had this huge crush on this boy named Romel. And for some reason, even at the age of 10 or 11, I figured the best thing to do was to wear dressy clothes and always have my hair done up with some cutsie hair thing (usually compliments of my grandparents in Washington). Okay, so there's no real point to this story (I've been told in the past -- as in 9th grade -- that my stories never have a point), but I just vividly remember wearing dresses and skirts (and, eek, the most hideously-colored leggings of all time) to school every day for the sole purpose of impressing Romel. Yeesh, some things are just better forgotten. Too bad I have that freakish memory, right Juliebean?

Okay, so, picture:
And for the record, I'm still a nerd. This is what I was pondering last night in class, mostly because the topic of computerized library catalogs was brought up in one of the presentations: my children will not know how to locate a book the old-timey way, because by the time I have kids, there probably won't be many (if any) standing card catalogs left. Don't you remember going to those little drawers and pulling them out and flipping through index cards to find your book? Don't you remember having to learn that there are three different sections of those cards: author, title, and subject? What a tragedy that my children won't understand that... Won't know that. Okay, well, it's tragic for me. So, here's my plan: (obviously this will wait until after I am out of school and have more free time... Also until all my books are unpacked, which ain't happenin' anytime soon). I'm going to create a card catalog system for my own personal library. Yep, that's right. And one day, I'll be able to show my kids how it used to be done. I told you, I'm a total nerd.

Presentations Galore

Today I get to do two presentations in school. Actually, I already finished one of them. My term paper for my Intro to Librarianship class was about user fees. So that was what I had to present to my class. The professor scheduled around 10 people to present today. Maybe 11. I love it when people go over their time limit. We got out of class about 5 minutes late. Which normally would not bother me much, but on Wednesdays, I have to eat lunch before I return to work, so between getting back to my floor to get my lunch out of the fridge and going down to the 3rd floor to heat it up, I ended up having like 3 minutes to actually eat it. But, I succeeded. I shocked the woman at the next table, who said, "You're finished eating already?" I'm sure I looked like a pig, but I really had no choice. Had to "wolf it down." So, for that class anyway, I'm now just coasting. I'm seriously debating skipping the next class we have with 10 more (or so) presentations, because I might want to gouge my eyes out. It's not that I don't appreciate the effort others put into their research and presentations. It's just that some of them are hideously boring. And believe me, I wouldn't say that my presentation on user fees in public libraries was prone to create any pulse-pounding. If anything, I might have put some people in a coma. However, I made sure to stay within my allotted time and got done in 8 minutes. And for the record, I hate power point presentations. I did not do one. My poor class had nothing to look at except me :). Weren't they lucky?!? I have another presentation due tonight for my Collection Development class. Then I'll just be coasting in that class too. My topic is equally snore-inducing: collecting videos in the public library. Again, no power point. In fact, I had better read over the paper before class so that I know what I'm going to say. I'm such a slacker.

One thing I pondered today was how each of us is so unique. People's personalities really come across in their presentations. And I guess sometimes it just really occurs to me how different we all really are. We each bring something different to the table, if you will. And it's those differences that make life what it is. It does take all kinds, and so I'm glad there are people out there who aspire to be library directors (because I don't want to be one). And I'm glad there are those people out there who desire to be reference librarians (because I don't want to be one). And I'm glad there are those people who think cataloging would be an ideal job for them (because I know it isn't for me). Different personalities serve different puposes, and all together they make up a whole. A whole library staff, on the smaller scale; a whole society, on the larger scale, etc. And I guess that kind of leads me to John Donne's famous statement: "No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main." We need each other, we need to serve each other. We are the Lord's instruments, and so I don't think we were ever intended to make islands out of ourselves. Luciano de Crescenzo said, "We are each of us angels with only one wing, and we can only fly by embracing one another." I think I like that. My mom always taught us growing up that everyone, everyone has good in them. I can remember thinking my mom was just crazy, or at the very least that she'd neve met some of the people whom I'd met :). But you know, she lived, and continues to live, her life with that view. And I can honestly say that I have never heard her or seen her contradict that philosophy. She has been a great example to me. And while it's not always easy to see the good in everyone, I know I should spend my time looking for the good in them, instead of at their faults (which, for some reason, are often more readily apparent).

Anyway, I'll shut-up now :). I was not intending to wax philosophic... My thought process just started to flow, so I went with it ;). Sorry for dragging you along for the ride ;)!

7 Random Things

Well, my cousin tagged me on her blog, which means I'm supposed to tell you 7 random things. So I'm thinking that it's a darn shame that I already have a list of Nilla Trivia, because all of those things would have worked nicely in this post. And now I am faced with challenge of coming up with 7 random things I haven't told you already! And I have seriously been thinking about this since yesterday. So, here's what I've come up with:

1. I love lists. Although I have not kept up with my list-making the way I used to, the fact remains that I love lists. Yes, there is the usual grocery list, or the list of Christmas presents I need to buy. But then there is the list of books I've read (with dates of completion for each book), the list of books I want to read (this is an ever-changing list, because as I finish two or three on the list, I feel the need to start over with a brand new list, making item #4 on the list the new item #1), lists of things I need to do... And the list goes on (no pun intended). And even greater is my love for crossing things off of a list. For example, if I perform a task that was not originally on my list, I actually add it to my list, so that I can cross it off immediately. Okay, so maybe a tad on the neurotic side, but that's me.
2. I am a worrier. I have not learned to listen to the advice of the Sunscreen Song (which I shared with you earlier): "Don't worry about the future. Or, worry, but know that worrying is as efffective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum." I create things about which to worry, I really do. I cannot go for long in a state of bliss, because, eventually, I will find something over which to obsess. It's not fun.
3. I have had both of my boobs simultaneously clawed by a cat. And obviously this one requires a story, so I'll give it to you. My family has a blind cat named Socks. Her eyes never developed and my dad found her on the road one morning and brought her home. So anyway, one night (I was a teenager), I was by the bathroom door (and someone was in the bathroom taking a shower, so the water was running), and I picked her up. Well, because she is blind, I knew better than to pick her up the way I did (she and I were facing each other and I picked her up "under her armpits" if you can picture this). So her front paws are facing me. Well, she hears the water and immediately freaks out, because she thinks I'm going to put her in the water. So she immediately starts clawing, and the only thing there to claw into were my boobs. So there I was, in my pajamas, calling out to my mom to help me unattach the cat, because if I let go of her with either one of my hands, I was going to be in worse shape than I already was. So my mom came and helped unhook Socks from my tender flesh, and eventually the scars went away. But I'll always have the memory...
4. I am an impatient person. This goes for things like time (like if I'm expecting something to happen at a specific time, I expect it at that time, no later). It also goes for life in general. My mom used to tell me, "Patience is a virtue." I could generally predict when she was going to say this to me, and it irritated me (she knows this), and I always had my response ready: "Yeah, well, it's one I don't have." At least I could always admit it :). But I'm working on it... It's a work in progress, and most days I don't think I'm getting any better. But I'm trying to get less impatient and more patient. Also, this sometimes ties in with my #2.
5. Although I know I am blessed to be having the opportunity to earn a graduate degree, the truth is that what I want most in this world is to be a wife and mother. For me, nothing could be more satisfying.
6. Of all the 50 States, I've only been to 8 of them (and by this, I mean that I've actually stayed in the state and visited in it): Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Utah, Colorado, Texas, and Washington. Well, let me edit that statement... those are the states that I can remember visiting. I think I've also gone to California, but that was long before I can remember, so it doesn't count. I've been through lots of other states (I took a train out to Utah when I was going to go to BYU back in 1999, so that put me going through Mississippi, Tennessee, Illinois, and obviously a bunch of others that don't stand out to me, but through which I know I had to go... but again, they don't count, because I didn't actually visit them :)). However, I have been to another country, so that should count for something ;).
7. I don't like sitting in front of a computer all day and having that be the main focus of my job. I have learned that through this job, so that means I will never be exclusively a catalog librarian. I think it makes my head hurt...

So, that's some stuff about me in a nutshell... And now I'm supposed to tag people, and since my cousin tagged me, and my other cousin has been tagged already, I guess that leaves Julie (if she wants to say 7 random things about her pregnancy, since she's keeping a pregnancy blog), Alysha (if she reads this), Jeni, and Heath. So, consider yourselves tagged, if you want to :).

Juliebean's Visit

To start: I do know I've been tagged to do 7 random things. I will do them tomorrow so that this post does not seem overwhelming.

Friday: Drove to the Summit in Birmingham (Alabama, Elka :)). It is this HUGE shopping center -- very ritzy, I might add. The Cheesecake Factory is located there. We all met up (and by all, I mean Jon, Julie, Alysha, Heath, and me) and had a lot of fun. Here are the pictures we took that night:

Then Jon, Alysha, and Heath left and Julie and I went to eat at the Cheesecake Factory. Then she and I went and waited outside until about 7:30 to watch the fireworks that the Summit was setting off to start the holiday season. Now this was particularly fun, because Julie and I chose to sit on the hill next to the parking lot in which they were setting off the fireworks. There was another group of four older people who eventually joined us. We waited and waited and waited (it seemed) and started to worry that it was going to take forever. But then I noticed the firetruck and ambulance show up, and so I told Julie that it was probably going to start soon because the "just in case" had arrived. She said, "What??" And I said, "the just in case is here." And I pointed to the firetruck and ambulance. She laughed and said, "the just in case?" And I said, "Yeah, you know, just in case someone blows their hand off." She laughed and said, "Hila, you're terrible!" The good news is that nobody blew their hand off :). Anyway, so they finally got the fireworks underway, and we were VERY close. It was loud. Julie started asking me if she thought we were too close. I said I didn't think so, because we were sitting by all the cars, and I figured they wouldn't let people park there if there was any chance of the cars being messed up. So we stuck it out and stayed there. Eventually, though, we started getting pelleted by falling fireworks debris. Hahaha. It was so funny. (Oh, and in case you're wondering, pelleted was the made-up word (made up by me) for this Juliebean/Nilla Birmingham trip... It's supposed to be pelted, but who can remember that when they are being pelleted with paper that just moments before had been on fire???). But it was so much fun. We just laughed and laughed. The group of older people at one point said, "We're probably getting hit by this stuff." And Julie and I looked over at them and we said, "You are." But oh the memories... Being pelleted...

When we got home to my apartment, Julie went into my room and she said, "It smells like strong cologne in here. What is that? Strong smells bother me ever since I've been pregnant." I pretty much knew the culprit. She called Jon to let him know we got home, so while she did that, I went and got the famous lavender air freshener, took it to her, and said, "Smell this, is this it?" She took a whiff and she was like, "YES!" So you see? It's not just me... That stuff stinks. It's way too strong. So I took it out of the room and left it in the kitchen so it wouldn't bother her, and maybe later I'll get around to giving it a proper burial - in the dumpster.

Saturday: Julie and I woke up at around 7:30. We ate some breakfast and then watched 50 First Dates and then we got ready for the day. We headed to the University so Julie could take a picture with Bear Bryant. And also walk around and see the campus.

We ate at Newk's Cafe (it was good, but over-priced, in my opinion). And then I took her down to the Black Warrior River and we took pictures there:Then we went to America's Thrift Store where we got some excellent deals. I think we got 3 pairs of slacks, 3 skirts (2 were maternity - for Julie), a pair of maternity shorts, 3 shirts, and a book for less than $15. Of course, I had a $10 off coupon, so it would have really cost us $25. But it was still a great deal. Then we went to Wal-Mart, then we went back to my apartment and I made arroz con pollo (Panamanian chicken and rice), and we ate that while we watched Police Academy. We went to sleep around midnight, and then the next morning, Jon and Alysha came and picked up Julie before I left for church.

For the Record...

So, if you'll recall in my post about jelly shoes and air fresheners, I told you I ended up buying a scent that stinks and I said I would plug it in anyway, see if it was overpowering, and if it was, then I'd have to replace the scent... probably with vanilla. Okay, so prepare yourselves for a classic Nilla story.

So, obviously you hadn't heard back from me on this topic. Well, the reason is because the scent was NOT overpowering in my room. In fact, I barely smelled anything unless I walked past the outlet into which the air freshener was plugged. And even then, the scent was competing with the wonderful aroma of a strawberry candle, so I barely ever smelled that lavender mess. Well, in preparation for Julie's arrival today, I was trying to finish the small odds and ends in my room that I have allowed to go undone for a month (yes, I am a slacker). So I moved my stereo between my bed and my bookcase. Then, after all that was done, I got a yearning for looking through another box that I didn't know what all was in it. Turns out, lots of interesting things that I forgot I had.

So really quickly, let me flashback for a moment (which you should expect from me by now...). I had a friend named Jessica for years. We became really good friends right before her family left Panama in 1993. So we kept in touch for something like 8 years. During that period of 8 years, our correspondence went from letters to cassette tape recordings of us talking to video recordings of us talking (ahhh, technology). By the time we started doing the video tapes, I was also making copies for myself. I have since gone back and watched myself at age 17, and I pretty much cringe - at my attitude, my facial expressions, and pretty much everything. However, I figure I might one day show my children (if I can get over my embarassment at how often I rolled my eyes and got seriously sarcastic and talked about boys). But, once again, I digress... So back in about 2001 or so, Jessica decided she wanted to exchange all the cassette tapes we'd recorded for each other. So she sent mine back to me. Over the years, I had sent her something like 25 cassette tapes (she labelled them) of me talking. Interpsersed with cool songs (I wouldn't be a Nilla if I didn't somehow fit in cool tunes of the time).

Well, I found most of those cassettes in that box last night. Well, another brief flashback (I know, I know, I'm sorry)... Back in 1997, we did a Ward Choir thing for church and we did a Christmas Program. There was this one song that I loved (don't remember the name of it, maybe something like "That Christmas Night" or "Star of Bethlehem"). Well, I had made a copy of us singing it for myself, but somewhere along the way I accidentally taped over it, which really bummed me out years later when I wanted to hear that song again, because I have since forgotten most of it. Well, turns out I made a copy for Jessica, and it was among the tapes she sent me. So, now I have a copy again! Yay!

So, I was going to listen to it last night. So I plug in my stereo below the scented oil (so I'm getting a good whiff of stinky lavender) and I pop the cassette into my stereo and press rewind to make sure it's at the beginning. Well, the stereo does nothing. So then it occurs to me that I have this wall switch by the bedroom door. I'm not totally stupid to think that the wall-switch does nothing. I know that it probably turns an outlet on/off by flipping the switch. But I had originally assumed it was the outlet closest to the switch, into which is plugged my TV. So, since my stereo wouldn't work, I thought, "Hmmm. let me try the switch." And sure enough, I flip on the switch and the stereo works. So then I think it would be a great thing to plug a lamp in there so I can just flip the switch when I come in at night (like after class) and have light, instead of stumbling around my bed in the dark to reach my bedside lamp. Ironically, there is also a lamp right by the computer, which would probably be a less treacherous goal for me to reach, and yet that has never occurred to me before this exact moment... brilliant. So, I already have a lamp sitting up on the bookcase, so I'm thinking I can plug that lamp in there. But wait! Only 2 receptacles and 3 things to plug in: the stereo, the scented oil thing, and the lamp. So then I think, "Oh, I'll just move the scent thing over to the other side of my bed." So I do that and plug in my lamp in the lightswitch-controlled outlet. And I'm set... So I am saying my prayers (like literally 2 minutes later) and I start smelling the strong smell of stinky lavender. And I start thinking, "Okay, what's the deal? This whole 3 weeks it's been plugged in and barely noticeable and now I plug it in by my bed and it's stinking up the room in less than 5 minutes???" Well, then it occurs to me... That whole three weeks, it wasn't putting off scent because the stupid outlet wasn't turned on because the lightswitch wasn't turned on. And seriously, the smell is strong. I finally decided I couldn't handle it that close to me, so I thought, "Well, any smell is good in the bathroom (okay, any smell that doesn't smell like a bathroom)." So I moved the airwick thing in there. And after about 10 minutes, I could smell it plenty while lying in bed. Joy. I'm going back and getting vanilla. And I don't care if that is PLAIN.

So I dropped right off to sleep last night, but then I woke up at 2:40 this morning. I think my body was struggling to digest some cookies I made last night, of which I ate 3 rather late in the nighttime. This has happened to me a couple of times before. I have eaten something LOADED with sugar, and gone to bed, and my body freaks out. And it usually wakes me up, because my stomach hurts. And these are those no-bake cookies that are packed with sugar, so I'm pretty sure that's what the problem was. At any rate, I tossed and turned trying to go back to sleep for about an hour, then finally gave up and started reading. I turned my lights out again at 4:15 and was able to go back to sleep, but for the following 2 hours, I had some of the absolute strangest dreams. And in some ways, they were disturbing. For example, in one series of dreams, I kept dreaming that I had already woken up. Like 10 dreams-within-a-dream-within-a-dream type thing. And finally, in the last one, I was sure I was awake, but I still wasn't. And I kept thinking I should pinch myself to check, but I never do that in my dreams... Stuff like that messes with my head, and I don't particularly like it... Oh, and while up for two hours in the middle of the night, I thought, "Well, maybe it's that horrible scent that is disturbing me," so I unplugged it from the bathroom receptacle too. Seriously... getting vanilla. And don't you just love how I can make a novel out of absolutely nothing!! So sorry :(.

Ice, Ice Baby

Unless this is a rare cold snap, we Alabamians are setting up for a very cold winter. I say this because I know for a fact that it was not this cold last year at this time. I was living in my new old apartment, and I hadn't moved my furniture up from Dothan yet. So I was sleeping on an air mattress and had the bare minimums. I would remember if it had gotten this cold, because my apartment was not well insulated, and I would have been freezing my little rear off :). I did eventually do that (freeze my rear off) in that apartment, but not until January. However, I knew last night would be cold... It was predicted to drop to 28 or 29. So Stefanie and turned on the heater for the first time, and I'm glad we did! I went outside this morning to leave for work, and my whole car (every available window included) was iced over... with THICK ice. So, I don't have an ice-scraper yet, and so I improvised and used one of my CD cases. So, thank you Janice Kapp Perry CD case, for allowing me to have visual observation on my way to work this morning :). Of course, having to scrape off every window on my car made me a good 10 minutes late for work. But that's what happens in Alabama with the first ice of winter. I think it's just expected :). So, ice, ice, baby, ride on down to "[Detroit] Avenue" and check out the song. (Please note that this song doesn't actually have anything to do with this post, other than the word "ice" -- but for a few of you, it might be a fun visit to the past :) ).

Okay, this is totally unrelated to my post, but I saw the link while watching the video for Ice Ice Baby (does he have the moves or what (haha)). But how can you mention Vanilla Ice to my generation and not pay homage to the great moment in time that was the Ninja Rap??? (You should definitely watch the end of this video for great grammar and hilarious commentary from Vanilla Ice himself). And all of you parents (Mom) whose children loved the (original) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and owned all three of the original movies (and some of them might still own all three), you should recognize it also!! And that link to the Ninja Turtles will school you in all things turtles if you happen to be unfamiliar. I was amazed at the detail -- you will come away a turtle-connoisseur.

In other news -- there really isn't any :). I had class last night, in which we did more group work. We do group work in almost every class. We are pretty much always broken into the same two groups (split right down the physical middle of the classroom). And at the end of class, we all come back and present our proposals for things. What I find most intriguing and fascinating is that our two groups always come at the problem in two completely different ways. And based on the ways in which we approach the problem, I wonder if the class isn't split down the middle (in the ironic way in which we seated ourselves on the first day of class) with one half - the other half - planning to go into a more academic environment, and the half of the class I sit on planning to go to public libraries. Here's my example: last night we had to choose a "library director" from our group (go April - you mean library-director!). Our problem was that this director (April) takes over the directorship and discovers that the main library of Oompa Loompa University (no joke, this is what he named it) has serious issues. The building is 60 years old, it has heating and cooling issues, humidity issues, and rodent and insect problems. There is reason to believe that the collection (of books) has been damaged and needs to be examined and checked over to see what needs to be replaced, what needs to be discarded, and what can be kept. So we had to have a plan for all of this. Anyway, we all come back, we present ours first. We were very proactive. We dealt first with fixing the underlying issues (like getting pest control in there to take care of the pests, like replacing the a/c unit, like getting humidifiers). We planned on closing the library for a week while the equipment was being installed, but using that week to have staff work on looking at the books in the most-affected areas. Once we re-opened, there would be a continuation of this project, but student workers would get involved and pull books based on physical problems alone, and then a professional librarian would look over those books pulled by the student workers and make a decision on the physical condition of the book as well as the relevance of it (is it outdated, etc). Okay, I know that's a long explanation... So, then the other group goes. They decided to form a committee first and spend until the beginning of Spring semester (from this point in the year) examining the problem. Then they would spend all of spring semester fixing the problems (like a/c, pests). Then they would start looking at their collection in May 2008. So, as I sat there thinking about the differences in our two groups' presentations, I was amazed. And it suddenly occurred to me: my group had at least 4 people (out of 9) who have worked or currently work in public libraries. Two people of those 9 have never worked in any library before. The others I don't know about. However, I can tell you that we approached this issue from a public-librarian standpoint. You don't form committees in public libraries. You deal with the issue. The other group, I'm not sure what everyone is planning to go into. I know that 3 of their 7 people currently work at one of the libraries here on campus. And yes, I know I work in an academic library right now, and I have worked in one since 2004. But my heart is definitely in public libraries. But academic libraries are MUCH more bureaucratic than public libraries. I have commented MANY times that I have had more meetings in this job (and I've only been here a year) than I have had in all my other jobs combined. It was just funny to me to watch how our half of the class jumped right into the problem and the other half of the class formed a committee first. So, naturally the question was raised (from our group to the other group): well, how bad is your rodent problem... how is this something you can put off for 2 months in order to form a committee to look at the issue and make a decision? Their group responded that it wasn't really a bad problem. They were just starting to see evidence of some possible pests in some areas. It wasn't like they pulled a book off a shelf and there was a rat. And our whole side of the classroom busted out laughing, because even in this, we came at the project so differently. Our group started off our discussion when we were planning our 'plan' with real-life scenarios that actually happened (from a public libray, I might add) in which a patron returned a book and when they opened the book, roaches crawled out. I might add that, while I was a branch librarian, I had a woman and her grown daughter come in and the daughter put her purse on the counter to pay a fine and roaches crawled out of her wallet when she opened it. She threw the wallet on the floor and screamed to her mom that roaches had crawled out of the wallet. Her mom was like, "Well, where was your purse?" And the daughter said, "Under the bed." I'm sure I must have had a look of horror on my face, and I know I've never moved so fast at grabbing scratch paper and smooshing the roaches (they were not the huge brown ones, but still) --- ewwww... I hate squishing bugs. But I had to... They would infest my library otherwise. Still makes my skin crawl. Needless to say, I disinfected every book they returned that day, and those that got returned to me after they checked them out then. They never came back to my library after that, and I just got the books returned in the bookdrop. Ick. Anyway, so keep in mind that my group is approaching this "scenario" from the perspective of roaches crawling out of books. My group took the worst-case scenario where there were visible rodents and droppings and roaches all over the place, along with moldy books. Our side of the classroom seriously laughed at how differently we set up our fictitious scene. And maybe that made all the difference in how we went about it. We had unsanitary conditions X 100!!! We didn't have time to form a committee, even if we'd wanted to! Public vs. academic... There's a BIG difference there, people. Trust me. Not that I'm down on academic librarians, either. I just know that it's vastly different from the public library.

Well, I really didn't mean to bore you with that long story. But April and I stood and discussed it after class last night and it was so funny. So I thought I would share. And now you know what I do in my classes :). And after that story, you're probably wondering why I actually WANT to go back to public libraries. I can't answer it, other than to say they just feel more like my fit. Because in spite of the yucky patrons, and the mean ones, there are some really sweet ones, and serving them - recommending books to them - it's a neat thing. Alright, I'll stop my long post about librarianship. But now you know :). Consider yourselves informed (by me :)) -- this is 'passive voice', by the way :).

A Total Genius...

So I spent my morning dreading my 9:00 class, because I didn't have anything to occupy my time while the professor pontificated. Not having something to do while he drones on and on about the history of librarianship makes for the slowest-moving class in all of creation (well, at least for this semester :)). So, as 8:45 approached, I left my desk and walked up one flight of stairs to get a book from 4M (this is technically the 6th floor of the library, but they call it 4 Mezzanine), so that I could start taking notes for term paper #3. Well, the stairwell doors to 4M were locked. So I trooped up the second set of stairs to the 5th floor, which houses the library school. I figured I'd just ride the elevator back down to 4M (and here I was trying to be healthy), after I put down my backback and stuff in my classroom. So I went in the classroom, and it was completely empty. I literally stood there and stared at the room for about 2 minutes (I also looked at the clock on the wall and my watch, just to make sure it was really almost 9:00). One of the thoughts that crossed my mind was: surely not everyone picked the same day to skip class. The even funnier (and stupider, and therefore more Nilla thought) was, "does this mix-up have something to do with the time change?" Now there's a genius question... 4 days after-the-fact. Along about this time, it finally starts to trickle (please note, I originally wrote "trinkle" here, then changed it to "tinkle" and then, only after having moved onto the next story, did it occur to me that the word is "trickle" -- what's WRONG with me!!!???!!!) into my mind that he dismissed class for us this week so that we could finish up work on our presentations that start next week. So, the good news is that I didn't have to worry about being bored to death. The other good news is that I was able to really work on my 3rd term paper. But the bad news is that I'm obviously starting to lose my memory, and that's a sign of old age... (!) :). Grandma Hila strikes again!!! :).

...and again

Because after 2 hours of sitting in a freezing computer lab upstairs -- okay, seriously, who runs the air conditioning when it's not going to get over 60 degrees outside all day long??? -- I decided to thaw out by going down to R&D again and trying to use a computer to scan my pictures in that I'd hoped to scan in yesterday. So I went down there, got set up on a computer, and started looking through my purse for the pictures. They weren't in there! And I KNOW I had put them in there with the other pictures I scanned a couple of weeks ago of Christina and me, which I haven't gotten around to taking out yet.... And then it dawned on me: In one of my frequent genius-moves, I left them at my desk yesterday, in my desk drawer, thinking they'd be safe there for when I could finally go down and scan them. I seemed to have forgotten that little tidbit of information when I made sure to grab my purse, so I'd have everything I'd need to use the R&D lab (my student ID and jump drive) to scan the pictures. Probably the pictures would have been a helpful addition to that... So, still no pictures, and I'm sorry. This time it's my fault ;).

Oh, and it is sooo cold outside. This morning was somewhere around 30. I really wanted to stay snuggled up under my comforter this morning, and I certainly didn't want to go outside in the frigid cold!!! In Alabama, we don't believe in Fall or Spring. You get to choose: Summer or Winter. Just so you know, in case any of you who don't or haven't lived here might be considering it...

Oh, it must be noon... the siren is going off. Scares me everytime. (We have a siren ontop of our building that sounds if/when a tornado is spotted in the county, and they test it on the first "clear" Wednesday of each month at noon).

Bad Hare Day

Question: How do you scare a rare rabbit?

Answer: Unique up on it.

Hahahahaha. That's a Meemaw joke (Julie's mom) -- and hopefully I got it right. Okay, so I was chatting with Heath on gmail chat this morning, and he had just woken up, so I asked him if he was "bright-eyed and bushy-tailed." He responded and then asked if I was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. I said, "Only on a bad 'hare' day." Okay, yes, I am a dork. Haven't I said that before?

I went downstairs to use the R&D lab to scan in those pictures I found in my memorabilia box (which is why I waited until now to post), but all of the computers with scanners were in use. Must be nearing the end of the semester and the students are frantically trying to do their projects. I know I am :). I finished my 2nd term paper last night. Yay! So anyway, who knows when I'll get to post those rough-looking pictures of me at age 10... But I promise I will :).

In other news, those stubborn 4 to 5 pounds that magically found their way onto some yet-to-be-determined part of my body (if I had known which was the offending part, I might have cut it off) in July have just as magically disappeared. I'm not complaining. Just stating the fact stated by my scale. (And cheering just a little bit inside -- both for the fact that they're gone, and for the fact that it did not require the amputation of some important part of my anatomy to make them go away :) ).

And since I have nothing better to tell, how about a remember-when story...

We'll call this one: "Tommy did it with his shirt"... Back in the summer of 1993, Nikelodeon's Gak Splat was hugely popular. Brad and Christina had several different colors. It was kind of like an ooze of sorts, but not as slimy. Well, one day Brad's friend Tommy was over and Tommy played little league football, and he was wearing his "White Rams" football jersey. Nylon material and all that... So he decided to see what would happen if he squeezed the gak through his football jersey. Well, the gak came oozing through the huge mesh holes. Brad and Tommy thought that was the coolest thing ever. So that night, Brad, alone, decides to re-enact the scenario with a cotton blanket. I told him not to. I told him that it wouldn't work. How I knew this little bit of information, I am not sure. But I was sure it was not going to work. Brad nonchalantly replied, "Yeah it will. Tommy did it with his shirt." And so he proceeds to squeeze the (I believe purple-colored) gak through the cotton blanket. And, low and behold, the gak stuck like glue. Poor Brad. He knew he'd messed up big. And naturally, I took the opportunity to gloat and laugh and say "I told you." Brad, freaking out at having ruined the blanket, was getting more and more frustrated with me the more I laughed and so he said, "Get out of my room, Hila. Just get out." So I left the room with a backward glance, telling him, "Okay, I'll just go tell Dad." Well, this was the ultimate threat, of course, so Brad was like, "Get back in here, Hila... Get back in here." I wish I could describe the tone of his voice. It was like he was doing me some big favor by permitting me entrance back into his room, almost like it was a fort I so desperately wanted to enter. Anyway, I guess I stopped making fun of him and left him to the business of solving his predicament. I know that a few minutes later, Brad was at the bathroom sink running the blanket under cold water. I told him that that wasn't going to work, and he replied, "Yes it will. It says it distills in standing water." Obviously Brad didn't know what that statement meant, but he was desperate to try anything, thinking he'd be in big trouble. The poor kid. Finally we went downstairs and told my mom. She wasn't worried. She told Brad not to worry about it, that she'd wash the blanket. And she did, and it came out. But it was funny to me, the whole scenario. Poor Brad. If only he'd have listened to me in the first place ;). I guess I was pretty cruel to laugh at him, though. Oh, and this was that same summer, so you can see what Brad would have looked like then. Man, we've gotten old.

And FYI -- That was the summer we spent 6 weeks in Dothan and we were bored to tears... So we spent a lot of time "posing" for pictures. This was one of Brad's poses. And since I don't think he reads my blog too often, he'll probaby never know I shared it with the world...

And finally, for the 80's child in all of us (and especially any who might have 30 minutes to kill):

80's cartoons.

The Return of the Nilla

You'd think that, with all those days off, I'd return with something interesting to report. Well, that's laughable :). I thoroughly enjoyed my time off, but I cannot report exciting events. The most exciting thing was that I slept until 10:30 both Friday and Saturday. Yes, I know it's lazy. But I earned it, and I wasn't sorry!

Let's see... I did work on my second term paper. I am almost done with it. I had every intention to finish it this past weekend (well, except that I need to find one more source and just put something in there from my last source -- yes, I know this is not how one is supposed to do a term paper... it is, however, how I do a term paper :) ). I went to a wedding at church on Friday night. It was very simple, but nice. The bride was beautiful. Also on Friday night, I watched 13 Going on 30 (I think this is one of the cutest movies). And, while I watched that, I broke open one of my many boxes of "memorabilia." I just couldn't help myself. Inside that particular box, I found tons of hilarious stuff. One of which was my high school graduation cap with tassle (1999) still attached. So, I put it on my head and wore it for the rest of the night while looking through the rest of the box. I briefly considered taking a picture to post in here, but then I thought, "Nah, they probably already think I'm crazy for admitting I put the thing on... A picture would just confirm my craziness" :). Yes, I realize that having multiple boxes labelled "memorabilia" means I am a pack-rat of sorts. But these are memories, people!!! Without this box of memorabilia, I would have forgotten about my friend Bonnie's 'road rage' or just how hairy Marcus's neck really was (okay, this is a long, long library story that will pretty much be understood only by Julie, Kristin, and Heath). Also in the box were my report cards for all of my high school years, along with standardized test scores (ACT, SAT, CTBS), and a panoply of other things I did. Oh, I meant to bring in the pictures of me I found in the box. Well, just check back later for those. Haha... Man, I found some rough pictures of me through the years. But I also found a really cute one from when I was about 18 months.

And, because I promised I would, I had better fill you in on the chocolate cake experience. It is as delicious as it looks. And I have only eaten half of it. I will eat the other half sometime today. And what is more, when you cut into it, it has some creamy chocolate in the middle of the cake too. Yum yum yum. And, in the food category... For all you bread and cheese lovers, check out this link: bread and cheese See, there are people in this world who understand the finer things in life :). Although I don't think I would feel the need to add most of those things... It's not like the sandwiches are lacking anything... bread and cheese... what else is there??

Oh, and let the excitement begin. I have just entered the point of the year where my life will fill up with excitement (at least to me). Here's what it looks like:

1. Juliebean is coming here for the weekend (November 9-11)
2. I go to Dothan for Thanksgiving (November 16-25)
3. April and I work hard on our Public Library Case study (okay, so not exciting, but time-consuming) (November 30-Dec 1)
4. Philly, NYC and D.C. with Elka (December 6-9)
5. The semester ends (December 12ish)
6. Christmas Break (I will spend some in Dothan and some in Florida at Julie's) (December 21-30)

It might not look like much, but it really is. And I'm excited :). I love it when things get hectic in the sense that there is always something to do!!! Okay, well, I guess I'm all out of useless info.

I'm Popular

Okay, so not really... But it totally fits with my post, and the song I wanted to use fits with my post and you'll see why, so read on...

First off, I talked to my cousin (this would be Elka) on the phone yesterday. Funny how you picture someone sounding one way and then they don't, and you kind of have to get used to it :). I was wrong, though... I told her it had been like 17 years since we last spoke. However, that's not true. Back in 1995 (man, that must have been a banner year, since that's the year I'm going to talk about some more in this post), well, maybe it was 1996, she and her sister went down to Panama, because they had other cousins there as well. So I actually have a bunch of pictures from the day they came to spend with us... After my trip to the Northeast, I will post a now and then :). Funny how you forget about those things!!! So, it's only been 11 years since I last saw her :). But life sure has changed since then... Anyway, I told her she sounded different than I imagined she would. She laughed and said I sound older than she thought I would (another confirmation about Grandma Hila??? :) ). haha... Anyway, I commented that I probably sound Southern (and to you lifetime Southerners, I know I don't sound Southern to you, but I know from experience that, when I speak with someone with whom I haven't spoken in 10 years, they notice the difference) and she said, "Yeah, you do have some of that Southern drawl in you..." So, I guess that confirms it, I'm going to really stand out as an obnoxious tourist when I go up to the NE in a month - no chance to blend in (of course, I don't know if I could do the Northern "New Yawk" thing like a native Yankee anyway :)).... Anyway, she and I had a fun conversation, and I just keep getting more excited every day about my trip and seeing her and my aunt and meeting others I haven't met yet :).

So, fast foward a few hours... I sat in class last night (instead of listening to the presentation - bad Hila) pondering how to fit everything into this blog. And the solution presented itself so well... So well, in fact, that I started smiling and then had to remember to STOP smiling because the presenters might think I'm strange... (Side-note: I have changed the word 'presenters' to 'presentors' and back again like 5 times, because I can't decide which is right and I'm too lazy to go look it up... So just know that it's one of those two, and if I chose the wrong one in the end, I'm sorry).

So, the song for this post is Nada Surf's "Popular." For those of you who don't know where this song is from... It came out the summer of 1995 (I know this because I was recording MTV videos back then, and I have this video recorded on a VHS tape). Okay, I just watched the video... Probably don't watch the whole thing (man, it seems tons worse now than it did when I recorded it 12 years ago).

So, this was my thought process while thinking up this blog post (and now you can see how my crazy mind works)... So I'm sitting in class last night, before class started. I'm telling my class-mate Andrea all about how I'm going to go to the Northeast. She's actually taking a weekend trip to New York in about a week and going to see a Broadway Play, so she was very understanding of my excitement :). So, my friend April walks into class, and she has a box that she sets in front of me and says, "Happy Birthday!" So I open the box. This is what was inside:

Ohhhhh Does that not look completely sinful and heavenly? (is that an oxymoron - sinful and heavenly? -- funny how we use those two words for things of this nature, and we use them interchangeably!!! -- sorry, random Nilla thought). It's almost too pretty to eat. But it smells sooo good. I have not eaten it yet, but I will keep you informed on what I'm sure will be one of the greatest taste adventures of my life. So, April had stopped at Edgar's Bakery in Birmingham (oh oh oh oh oh, soooo good) and bought me this individual cake. Okay, so I'm pretty sure it doesn't have the calories and fat of just an individual cake, but I bet every single calorie and gram of fat is worth it... Thanks again April!

So, I'm sitting there in class, thinking about telling Julie about this cake from Edgar's (because she and I went there together once), and I'm thinking she's going to say, "Oh my gosh! That's so nice..." or something along those lines. Which leads me to thinking about making some sarcastic comment about my popularity (hahaha). Which leads me directly to the song Popular by Nada Surf, and why? Well, because April has given me a recent connection to them...

So flashback: Last week, April was a bad student (just kidding)... She skipped class to go to.... (wait for it) ... a Nada Surf concert!! When she told me about it the previous week, she was like, "It's this band called Nada Surf." As though I didn't know who they were (because I guess a lot of people don't). So I was like, "As in the song 'Popular' Nada Surf???" And she was like, "YES!!" So I totally knew who she was talking about, and I thought that was totally cool that she was going to this concert (because, even though they have continued to produce albums, I only know them from the mid-90's, and this was a blast from the past for me). So then April calls me Sunday and tells me about how she actually got to meet the lead singer (whose name is Matthew). I asked: Did you take a picture with him? And she said "Yep! I'll send it to you!" So she did, and so, with her permission, I will post it here. How cool is that?? (Okay, maybe I'm a dork, but I think it's cool -- oh, and I'm probably a dork for like totally using the words 'like' and 'totally' like 5 million times in this blog post).

Haha... She told me that if I posted it, I had to say it was a picture of her and her boyfriend... Then she said she was kidding... But I did it anyway :). So, this is April with the lead singer of Nada Surf, whose video I recorded in 1995, and whose song (the same song: Popular) is currently one of my songs on my MP3 CD.

Okay, so that is how I made the leap from my mental sarcastic remark to Julie to Nada Surf and their song, and how I combined them all to make my blog post :) :) :). And now, perhaps, you have a better idea of how my crazy mind works... Aren't our brains wonderful???

And you know what? I'll go ahead and make this long, because I'm not going to be here tomorrow to torture you with another blog post :). So...

Today was the last day for Strive for Five. Good news all around!!! Yay! I personally have lost a total of 2.1 pounds since the beginning (okay, so not stellar weight loss, but weight loss nonetheless). Also, I'm shocked I didn't gain 5 pounds by just breathing in the wonderful aroma of that chocolate decadent cake last night... (and this morning)... My team did not quite reach its goal of losing 10 pounds, but we did lose over half of the goal. We started out at 432 and finished up at 426.6. So we were excited. We each got a certificate for finishing, a T-shirt, and we were supposed to get a picture of all of us on the scale. Well, for some reason, ours was like the only one not down there. They said they would track us down and give us the picture. Here's to hoping, because I was totally bummed that we didn't get our picture and therefore I could not blog it today... (if we ever get it, I'll post it then).

But, then it occurred to me: I brought my camera in for the cake pictures!!! So, I made us all put on our t-shirts and take a picture. So, here we are in all our Striving for Five glory (L to R - Le, Annie, and Hila):

And before long, I'll be free for the day, so it's been a WONDERFUL week, turning 27 and all :).