Nothing More than a Memory

And good morning to all of you! Yes, I did make it in to work today. Although I will say that I was worried I wasn't going to at about 7 last night. I felt worse then than I had all day! And I'd felt pretty cruddy all day. Thankfully, by the time my online class was finished, I was feeling a lot better. Once again I slept like a rock. It felt wonderful. I must have been tired, because I wasn't even awake for 12 whole hours yesterday, yet still I slept very soundly last night. Travel and sickness will really get you...

Since yesterday was nothing exciting, I figured I would quickly tell you a memory lane story that Brad, Christina, and I discussed just a couple days ago, while I was up there :).

If you have kept up with my blog much, you may remember me talking about my family camping at the Aquativity Center. That is where I got the leech on my foot. Anyway, they had this little playground there where we 3 would spend a lot of time playing. One of the things in the park was one of those springy things you ride, and it was a squirrel (at least according to Brad). All I know is that we named it Secret Suppertime. This is why... We would collect all the bottle caps (like from sodas in glass bottles) that were laying around in the gravel at the playground. Then we'd fill them up with gravel, and line them up underneath this squirrel thing (a.k.a. Secret Suppertime), and then, when we got hungry (for pretend), Secret Suppertime would "give" us one of these little "meals". And we didn't know what the "meal" was until we got it, so that's what made it secret. I remembered this on Tuesday night when we were driving over to Brad's, so I made it a point to say it to him and Christina when we got to Shari's restaurant. Brad laughed and shook his head. Then we had to tell the story for Tarylyn and Mom.

Oh, I should point out this important detail, since this thing's name (which WE made up) was Secret Suppertime. The rule still applies: it's dinner, not supper. But, I was an English person, even back then, and I was practicing the fine art of alliteration. the two s's in Secret Suppertime sounds so much better than Secret Dinnertime. But for all other reasons or purposes... it's dinner!

Oh yeah, and I forgot to tell you about the fortune I got from my Chinese food from the Safeway... I laughed when I opened it. It said "You will have a comfortable retirement." Personally, I prefered the one that said I would get everything I want through my personality. Haha :). But, in about 40 years, I'll be happy about a comfortable retirement ;). (And no, I don't put a lot of stock in fortune-cookie fortunes... it's just fun to laugh at them :)).

Loads of Fun and Family Foreverness

Yes, I know I am in trouble with several of you who have probably been checking for the last 4 hours, at least, to see my update about my trip. I must apologize. But I seriously just woke up about 30 minutes ago. I called in sick today, because although I was hoping it would go away, the sore throat I woke up with yesterday morning (when I was still in WA) was still hanging around, and then was joined by a congested head and achy neck muscles. So, I think it's a cold, but since Grandma had told us she had gotten sick when she got up on Tuesday, I didn't want to chance that it was the flu, so I stayed home and called in. I still have a sore throat and a stuffy nose, my head still feels congested. But I'll live ;). And I probably needed this rest anyway. I slept HARD. Brad called sometime around 8:50 to see if I'd gotten home okay, and I only kind of recall that short conversation. It surprised him that he had woken me up, since he knew I had planned on going to work. So anyway, that explains the lateness of this post. But it also means I can spend my time tweaking it and making it perfect :). So, anticipate a panoply of pictures, because I certainly took my share for a 2-day trip!

So, as you have probably guessed by now, the post title for my Monday post was, in fact, related to my life and not just a random music title that I just threw up there :). But Christina and Brad and Tarylyn had NO idea I was going, and we wanted to keep it a surprise! Going was a last-minute decision I made last Thursday. I knew Brad and Tarylyn and the kids were going to the Temple to be sealed for time and all eternity on Tuesday. I had looked around at tickets that would fly out the weekend before. Everything was expensive. Over $300. And sometimes over $400, depending on the days I chose. I had pretty much given up, but it just kept coming back to my mind that I should check again. So last Thursday, I checked again... Still no dice. Gave up, went back to doing work. Got the feeling I should check again, repeated that whole thing. Then go the feeling I should check again. I kept telling myself that, if I could find a ticket for less than $200, I'd buy it, no matter when it was. So, I finally played with the dates enough and found one! The saddest part was that it had me leaving Monday afternoon and coming back Wednesday afternoon. So short. But any longer, either before or after, and it would have cost me a minimum of $100 more. So, this is how it had to be. So, I threw all caution (and Nillaness) to the wind and bought the ticket. Because, as Heath once pointed out to me, in ten years, will the annual leave I lost to take the trip or the money the ticket cost me really matter? What would I look back on and regret more? The loss of that money or the loss of the memory? And it's really a no-brainer. I have been blessed to have the money and to be in a situation where I can do this. I will still achieve my goal of being credit card debt free when I leave here, so that's what matters as far as money is concerned. And you will see how my going panned out, and how that was what was important as far as anything else matters.

I went to work on Monday until 11:30. And I have to say I have been so blessed with wonderful friends. April once again was willing to take me to the airport so I wouldn't have to pay to park my car. This meant she would have to pick me up on Wednesday at almost midnight. And she was like, "Not a big deal!" I also had a girl I work with in nursery at church named Emily offer to take me to the airport if I didn't have a ride. And that was really nice of her. I just have been so blessed, and I cannot adequately tell my friends how much they and their kindness means to me. (I did bring April back a dark chocolate Seattle Chocolates truffle bar, but that's not really decent payment for driving to the airport at midnight!). Anyway! So, I got the BHM by 1:00 (thanks again April!) and found out my flight to Chicago had been delayed due to weather, and the flight from Chicago to Seattle had been canceled (a snow storm was going to come through Chicago Monday evening...). So, United Airlines put me on a Continental flight to Houston, and from Houston to Seattle, and I only got in about 10 minutes later than I would have on United Airlines. So all was smooth. Although I was labeled a "secondary female" on my ticket out of Birmingham, so I had to get patted down, and they went through my stuff. I guess maybe it's random. So that was fun. If I had had more time in Houston, I would have taken a picture of me and George Bush Sr. in the Houston airport. They have a huge statue of him. But I had to book it to my connecting flight. My one complaint about my flight to Seattle was that the older couple I sat next to.... Man, the husband really smelled like BO. I'm talking this guy was trying to compete for the "Ooo Stank" award.... Yuck! They were nice, but man, I was sorry every time he reached up to adjust his airflow over his seat or turn on his light or something. Ick. That was a 4.5 hour flight, which felt like a very long time to me. Oh! But they fed us on this flight! Even in Coach! So, I took a picture to prove it, because it was pretty exciting to me! My stomach was starting to gnaw through itself by this point (I try to avoid buying airport food).
Okay, so it wasn't the greatest cheeseburger I've ever had. But it was food, and I was hungry. The flight landed at 8:08 p.m. Seattle time. Which meant I missed the 8:20 airporter by 15 minutes by the time I made it out of the terminal. So, I walked around and waited on the next airporter to take to my mom's. She picked me up, and we headed to Christina's. Keep in mind it's about 11:00 p.m. by this time. Well, my mom had already called Christina and told her she was going to take some stuff over for Desiree. Christina kept telling my mom that it was okay, she could wait, since it was so late. But my mom insisted, saying she'd forget if she didn't. I had also called Christina, telling her I couldn't sleep, so I wanted to chat with her for few seconds. And I got to chat with my munchkin too. Well, so we get there, and I knock on the door with my mom and camera at the ready. I think that picture from yesterday (which is now clickable) just about sums it up :). Christina is so great. She wears her thoughts on her sleeve. I love the raised eyebrows in that picture. I think this picture was taken the second before enlightenment fell on her ;). She was like, "How did you get here?" And I was like, "I flew!" And you know what??? Desiree was smiling and looking at me and I said, "Do you know who I am?" And she nodded her head. I said, "Who am I?" And she said, "Aunt Hoda." Awww. My baby knows me!! And here are a couple more pictures from that first night (oh, I slept at Christina's).

That's Desiree playing with her daddy, Nick. She was turning him into a monster with her "fair godmother wand." She turned me into a cow, and then back into an Aunt Hila. Here's a video of me turning her into different animals (hopefully... if I can figure out how to load up video).



Christina and I didn't go to sleep until about 3 in the morning, because we watched Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I was exhausted! Oh yeah, and it was so sweet... I do my hair at night (because I really am too lazy to get up early enough to do it in the mornings), so I was doing my hair, Desiree wanted me to "blow-dry" her hair and also spray hairspray in it. So I did. She thought that was the neatest thing.

The next morning I woke up at 8:30 to start getting ready to go. My mom got there at about 9:00, so we hugged and kissed Desiree and hugged Christina, told them we'd see them that night, and headed out to meet Brad and Tarylyn and the kids. We met them in a bank parking lot, so they could get on the ferry right behind us, since they didn't know how to get to the Temple. So, we pull up by their van in the parking lot and just sit there. Both Brad and Tarylyn look over at the car and they are smiling. But there's no real huge reaction about me. Tarylyn looks right at me, smiles, looks down to her lap... And then you can literally watch as it dawns on her... She jerks her head back up and look at me with her mouth gaping open. It was great. And I didn't see Brad's facial expression, but my mom said that she watched his reaction. She said he was smiling as he looked at her, and then he looked in the backseat (Grandpa was riding up front with my mom), saw me, and she said his face lit up. And you know, seeing Christina's face and Tarylyn's face, knowing that Brad's face lit up.... That makes all the lack of sleep, the whirlwind trip, the money, all of it worthwhile. I walked over to the van to speak with them for a second. Brad rolled down his window and said, "I knew you were here, because I could smell you." Haha. Brad is such a dork. I guess I smell all the time, not just at midnight. (Brad, for whatever reason, tends to tell me, when I call him and he answers the phone, he tends to answer it by saying, "You smell.") Anyway, I laughed. Brad cracks me up :). So, we headed over to the ferry (Brad's work stuff was in the van, so there weren't any extra seats for me, so I rode the whole way with my mom). Once we drove onto the ferry and got out of the cars, Saria came running over to me, calling out, "Aunt Hila!" Oh I love these babies! Samuel still remembers me too. So, here are ferry pictures with me and the kids, and me and Brad.
Samuel calls Mt. Rainier "Fudge Mountain." Other lessons from Samuel? Apparently pirates don't eat dirt.... unless they are dead. I don't know. He's Brad's kid, what can I say? And Saria has become such a great reader! I'm so very proud of her! Samuel talks a lot! And he laughs a lot too. He really is just like Brad. The Temple was awesome. Getting to see them all sealed as a family was so neat, and I am so glad I got to be there. Afterwards, we took lots and lots of pictures. So here are several:And this picture is one my mom snapped when we weren't ready. I happen to like it, because I think it captures the essence of the relationship Brad and I have. I run my mouth... he laughs :).
So, we left the Temple and headed back to Grandma and Grandpa's house. I wanted to make sure to see Grandma at least a little bit. She wasn't feeling well, but I still got to see her for a few minutes. Then we all headed over to Brad and Tarylyn's so I could see their house. The kids were super-excited to show me their room. Then we met up with Christina at a restaurant called Shari's. It was really good. And as soon as we came in, Desiree (she and Christina got there before us) ran up and hugged Saria. Isn't this so sweet???
We all had the greatest time. I will admit, I did take a picture of my food. However, I think I will not post it :). It's not that important :). But I did get a group picture of all of us, courtesy of our waitress. I think we look like a happy bunch :).
After dinner, I went back to Christina's. I took a picture with Nick, since I don't have any.I also took this picture of Desiree and me after my shower and before she fell asleep. She's a sweetie.And here's a video of Benjamin and Samuel. Saria had already left for school at this point. But these boys are funny. And you can hear Brad and Tarylyn talking about Samuel's comments on pirates eating dirt in the background. So hilarious.



This was on Wednesday. I flew out at 3:27 on Wednesday, so I had to catch the airporter by 12:30. So Mom took me over to Ben's house (he works nights, so that's why they weren't able to be at dinner). Michelle was at school, so I missed her. But I got to see their oldest son, Sean. The other two (Tony and Royce) were at school also. I have to post this video so you can all laugh at me :). And then are the pictures of me and Ben and then me and Sean.




Mom took me to Safeway (a grocery store) and I bought some Chinese food from their deli (it was very good, actually). This way I didn't have to eat airport food. Mom cried when I left, which I knew she would. I love my mommy. Getting through security was a chore, there were so many people. The flights back were amazingly smooth and totally not crowded. I was still ready to be done with them by the time I landed. On the way back, I went through Denver, CO. Oh, and just for the record, for all of you who say you won't move to Washington because it's "too cold" (Dad), it was beautiful in Washington while I was there. And it was FREEZING, literally, in Alabama when I landed here. It was about 20 to 30 degrees colder in Alabama than in Seattle! And thanks again to April who braved the freeze and picked me up! And then I drove an hour home. So, I got home at about 1:10 this morning, got a shower, and fully intended to go to work today. But I really woke up feeling crappy. And I still feel pretty crappy, at least in my head. I feel congested and like my head is heavy. Ugh. It needs to get better by tomorrow, because I have an interview for my summer internship!

Well, so that's the story of my surprise visit to Washington. I miss my family so much. I can't wait to live close to them! And I'm so thankful I was able to do this!

*And Tarylyn guessed the movie quote!*

The Art of Surprise!

Yep, so I'm in Washington for the next 7 hours (about). It's been a wonderful visit, although very short. I will fill you in (of course). But let me just show you what it's like to surprise Christina by showing up at her apartment (from Alabama) when she has NO CLUE you're coming :).

(Oh, and if it's not clickable, I'll fix it tomorrow).

*oh, and Julie has guessed the movie quote correctly!*

My Bags Are Packed, I'm Ready to Go

Although entirely unrelated to this post, that is totally a song title post :). Isn't that a great song? I actually own a CD with Peter, Paul, and Mary's greatest hits. I like the CD. I was raised on a lot of folk music from the 60s. Let's face it, I was raised on a lot of music. It's why my playlist is such a plethora of genres and decades :). Plethora... Julie used that word on Saturday, and I like it :). Although I generally include this CD in the group of gifts from G&G that came during senior moments... Also in this grouping: Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas (we'd never seen it, much less asked for it, and somehow it ended up being my birthday present when I was really hoping for The Three Musketeers -- because I thought Charlie Sheen was HOT in that movie.... hey, there's another "famous crush" of mine from back in the day!); Frank Sinatra's Duets on CD; and the cream of the crop (which I've mentioned before), a VHS tape of Elvis: Aloha from Hawaii. It's not that these are bad gifts by any means. They are just rather odd choices for a 14 or 15 year old, unless said teenager has requested those gifts. And I can vouch for the fact that that particular teenager (i.e. me) did not :). But, I love telling the story. So, I say it was a good trade :).

Wow, I had a super-busy weekend! On Friday I ran out to Wal-Mart and transferred all my pictures on my camera to CD (finally). There were 400 of them! Wow, I've been taking some pictures lately! They spanned November through February. Apparently I was living it up :)! Which would be accurate, seeing as my fun trip to the Northeast, my trip to Julie's, and my trip to Atlanta, along with 3 other girlie nights were included in this 400 pictures! And I said I was vaNILLA... I'm such a liar ;).

Oh yeah, so... My weekend. Okay, so after that, I ran home with all the good intentions of doing school work. However, life usually has other plans for me, so I never got around to doing much schoolwork. Okay, I'm not going to lie. It wasn't life's fault... it was mine. I decided to eat my $1.00 jalapeno poppers for lunch, and figured I didn't really need to do schoolwork at that time. It was much better to savor each popper by watching the rest of Dirty Dancing. So, I took my own advice, and that's what I did :). Well, you know what they say about good intentions ;).... Toad the Wet Sprocket says it's hard to rely on them... I'll have to concur. So, by the time I was actually free to do some schoolwork, it was time to start getting ready for the Temple trip. Several of us from church went to do baptisms, and I rode up there with Stefanie. That was fun. Then she and I came home, stopping through Wendy's on the way home. The prices have gone up! I ended up just getting a Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger, because I am too cheap to pay $1.19 or $1.29 for fries or a frosty to accompany it... What happened to all of these items being $.99? Anyway, Stefanie and I had a good ride home, just chatting away. I'm such a talker.

Saturday I woke up early, because there was a Stake Relief Society Enrichment Meeting to go to. I could not believe how cold it had gotten over-night! I rode with Virginia, Joan, and Pearl. The meeting was awesome. It was all about preparing ourselves, and becoming self-reliant so that we can lift others and help them become self-reliant and prepared as well. There were several different 30-minute classes we could attend. I opted for the ones on bargain buying, food storage, provident living, and then looked at all the other displays for the other 30 minutes of my time. They were great. And there was some great granola snacks (I mean, this was delicious, and I wish I knew who made it), along with a great lunch served at the end. That ended around 1:30, and I got home sometime after 2:00. I talked to Juliebean and got my Juliebean fix for the month (that's what it seems like these days, since we don't seem to talk on the phone as much anymore... But when we do... It's a blast! We talked for probably a total of 2.5 hours! We killed the battery on her cell, so she had to call me back on Jon's, if that tells you anything about the length of our conversation :)). I finished my second article review for the crazy class, and got another article read and annotated for that same class's big project, which is due March 6th. Sigh... I washed 2 loads of clothes, talked to Christina, and watched half of a movie. Oh, and I took a nap, because I only meant to close my eyes, and that was an hour-long blink. Oops. At least I got done with everything I HAD to get done with by today :). And a little extra...

On Sunday I got up and went to church. One of the mothers of one of the nursery children told me the neatest story. She said, "You guys must do a great job teaching the children. Joshua came home last week and told me all about the Holy Ghost. He told me the Holy Ghost doesn't have a real body, but He has a spirit body. And then he said that the Holy Ghost goes, 'Woooo.'" She laughed, and I laughed, and I said, "Well, I didn't teach him that last part! She laughed and said, "Yeah, I know that was his invention... He's been watching a lot of Scooby Doo." It just feels good to know that the children do listen, even at age 2. Sometimes I'm not sure if they are getting anything out of the lessons, because they are all moving around and getting out of their seats. So it is neat to learn that they do learn stuff, and that they are paying attention, even if they don't seem to be. I do love the nursery kids. In fact, this same little boy came over to me while I was cleaning up the toys yesterday to prepare for lesson time, and he grabbed my arm (I was bent over, picking up the toys), and hugged my arm. I thought it was just so sweet. The kids are just so neat, and this calling has been so rewarding and I have really enjoyed it. After church, I worked on reading some more, but dozed off again... for another hour. Virginia called and woke me up, so I ended up going to her apartment to watch a movie, burn more family DVDs and eat popcorn. Yum! So, I have 2 of the 6 DVDs burned for each of us now (that is a total of 5 each). Yay! I didn't end up leaving until about 10:00, and I still had to get a shower... Not to mention the other stuff I needed to do! Of course, I was so wide awake, I didn't fall asleep until after 12:30... I'm tired! But, I'm wired! So, I'm good :).

*And Mrs. S has guessed the movie quote correctly!*

Booder-Bill is 2!

Okay, I really don't have time to be blogging. I'm working like a crazy woman. But, today is Ben-a-Booder's 2nd birthday! And so I wanted to say Happy Birthday to Benjamin, and put a couple of pictures of him up :).

The first one is from a few weeks after he was born (and that's me holding him... Yes, I know I look different!) The second one is more recent... From Christmas 2007.

On Being Wired

So, before I get into the nitty-gritty of this post (which really isn't all that nitty or gritty :)), I should tell you about WIRED, and the memory elicited therefrom. Back in 1998 (don't you love how I always start these stories with "back in..." Makes me feel older... haha), I was in a class called Desktop Publishing/HTML or something like that. The teacher was Ms. Baca. That was back when computers were starting to really hit the scene in a big way. We had a computer lab attached to our classroom, and in it, there were laptops for each of the students to use. I think this was significant in 1998. Anyway... one of the big projects we had to do in that class was create a cover for WIRED magazine (it's a nerdy magazine ;)... just kidding). It is a computer-centered magazine. So, we had to have our picture on the front and we had to come up with headlines, etc. We had to basically design the cover and choose colors, and we even had to make a barcode that resembled a real one. And then we printed them out on like a wax printer or something like that. My biggest regret? I don't know why, but I never even brought the thing home. So it is lost to me :(. That would've been something fun to come across in one of my many "memorabilia" boxes :).

Actually, I was going to tell you about my day... Yesterday at 4, the Internet went down. All except for Google-affiliated things, like gmail and blogger. Eventually those dropped out too, but not until about 5:15. This meant one of our library programs dropped also (OCLC, for anyone who is particularly interested :)). And, for the most part, this put a huge halt in the work on the 4th floor. Seriously, some of us were sharpening pencils, just to "stay busy." (Note: I was not one of these... my gmail was still working, so I chatted with Julie for a lot of the time...) It is funny to me how dependent we have become on computers. And I say "we," because I am dependent on them too. For example, I can't seem to help myself... I blog every day :). And there are some of you out there (my mid-morning checkers ;)) who have come to depend on my routine :). Haha. Not that I'm criticizing computers or Internet. I'm not. I love having the access I have. It just is funny to me how a lot of things come to a stop when the Internet goes down. And, 10 years ago, around the time of the story I told, probably that wouldn't have happened as much (the grinding halt). It's amazing how far we've come in 10 years.

I did my online class from home last night. This meant I could not speak to the class, because I don't have one of those microphone/headphone headsets. However, since all we were doing was listening to other people's presentations, I did not feel I would need the headphones. I think I might just consider doing this from home more often. Warning: evidence of a bad student ahead... I went and heated through dinner, I got a shower, I talked to Julie's mom (about Julie's baby shower) and then chatted with Julie in gmail chat about her shower, I talked to Elka, talked briefly with Anne, and worked on a major project due Monday for my Monday night class... All while being "in class." Right after my shower, the teacher said, "Okay, it looks like it is about break time." Well, that never occurred to me. Sitting at home and being absorbed in other things while "sorta" listening to class in the background does not make you feel a need to have a break. Yes, I am a BAD student. I've never argued that fact, and honestly have admitted it quite freely :). But, I'm down to the wire here (haha...) and I need to be multi-tasking. Thanks to some excitement, it seems I will have to hurry up and do some of the projects like NOW, because they are due this upcoming week and I need to have them all turned in by Monday at noon. It's going to be a VERY busy weekend...

Oh, let me give a shout-out to all you Dothanites... I'll be in Dothan in 3 weeks! And I am taking applications for hanging out ;). I'm totally kidding. But I seriously am starting to fill up my calendar, so give me a call or email and let me know when and if you want to hang out during the week of March 15-23. Already on the dockett:
Friday, March 14 -- arrive at Meemaw's and spend the night with Julie, Alysha and Meemaw while prepping food for the baby shower
Saturday, March 15 -- Julie's baby shower (expect pictures of food)
Monday evening, March 17 -- St. Patrick's Day girlie party with Becky, Kira, Stacy, and Kristy (expect pictures of food)
And, events not scheduled: hanging with Anne, lunch with Stacy, hanging with Karen, possibly driving to Florida with my dad to see his cousins.
My life gets busy in Dothan. Although Anne said she thinks I'm the busiest person she knows.... The Nilla Life is an adventure, what can I say?? :). Oh, and I gave you forewarning about food pics, because Elka and my Aunt Hila apparently laugh at how I take pictures of food ;). I informed Elka that I'm not the only one who does it, and referred her to my friend Jeni's blog. Then Elka said, "Oh, I know. I need to go and print out some of her recipes." Haha... I totally just outed Elka as a blog-stalker of Jeni's blog. But seriously, I think cookbooks should have as many pictures as possible. How else are you going to know if you want to cook the recipe? So says Nilla... I'm a visual eater (I see food, I eat it :)). No, all kidding aside, I really do make the bulk of my recipe choices based on whether or not the thing looks good... Hence my pictures of food :). I'm sure you are all just dying to go out and try your very own pink food party now :).

Oh, and when I wrote that about taking applications, it reminded me of a t-shirt slogan I told my friend Donna (with whom I used to work at Troy-Dothan). I don't know why it came up, but she laughed. I said I should go around wearing a shirt that said, "Now taking applications for husband. Not currently hiring, but applications always accepted." She laughed and that gave her wild ideas about starting a screen-printing business for which we come up with the slogans... Donna always cracked me up.

Well, that might be all my news. Well, it's not really all my news. But it is all the news I'm going to share at this point in time :). Want to know the rest? Hey, buy the rights....

Love it...

Total Eclipse of the [Moon]

Yep, you 80s folks know that this is totally a song-title post :). So, here it is!

I'll get to it... But first...

So, the rest of work yesterday was essentially uneventful. I got to leave at 3:30 for the day, so I headed home to pick up my library books, which were due. Of the 3 I had, I only got around to reading one. Yes, I only JUST finished Crisis by Robin Cook on Tuesday night. Yikes! Actually, I don't think it was me so much as it was the book. It just wasn't my writing-style. Robin Cook is incredibly wordy. He describes every minute detail. It occurs to me that I probably do the same thing to all of you. Hmmm.... I guess I can dish it out, but I can't take it :). Turns out that rule can apply to lots of things! But I started on the new Tess Gerritsen book last night, and I am already almost 70 pages into it, and I would've kept reading, except that I knew I needed to go to bed. I love Tess Gerritsen's books. They always suck me right in.

I also decided to make a new recipe last night. They are called Pizza Meatloaf Cups or something like that. You cook them in muffin tins. Eh. I wasn't all that impressed. So I didn't take a picture. Stefanie liked them, but I thought they were rather bland. They're edible, just nothing stellar. I guess it's good to know. I'll just know not to make them again. I have this cookbook through which I went and marked all the recipes I wanted to try. So, I'm making an effort to try some of them. So, now I've tried the sunset cooler (from the pink party) and these pizza meatloaf cups. I have gotten some very awesome recipes from this cookbook in the past, and I'm sure there are some other great ones for me to discover some day. I just need to get cooking! So, while I was finishing up the preparations on dinner, Stefanie was working on some whole wheat bread (she likes to bake bread a lot). I'm cutting up an orange to go with the dinner (in my attempt to not just have meatloaf cups...) and there's a knock on our door. I look at Stefanie, who's looking at me, and I say, "Are you expecting anyone?" She says, "No." So I start walking to the door to look out the peep-hole, and Stefanie says, "Maybe it's hot shirtless guy." I laughed. Then I looked out the peep-hole and said, "You know what, you might be right." And it was shirtless guy (with a shirt on). I told her to answer the door, since I was in my pajamas. He wanted to know if we had a garlic press, which we do not. Anyway, it was just funny that Stefanie said that, and then it was him. Then, after dinner, I went to my room and started reading.

Elka called me last night, so that was cool :). It's nice to get an unexpected phone call! So she and I gabbed for about half an hour, and then Pace called to say that the eclipse was happening. So, Stefanie and I went outside to watch it. I took my camera out, but I didn't get anything good, sadly. It was very cloudy here. We waited until the moon was totally eclipsed, and then we gave up and went inside, because the clouds just got worse. So, this experience brings me to a memory lane story. Not a funny one, but a story nonetheless :).

I watched the last lunar eclipse of the 20th century about 10 years ago when I lived in Panama. I can remember sitting out on our carport. That's about all I remember though. It's entirely possible (and highly probable) that I have it written in one of my journals, since I was much better at journaling way back then. (I need to get better at it now). Also, I got to "witness" a solar eclipse about 10 years ago as well, while I lived in Panama. I don't remember the date of it (it's possibly in my yearbook, since they did a whole page spread of it), but I remember it was during my Junior year, which was precisely 10 years ago. I was sitting in Ms. Brannick's U.S. History class, and it was right after lunch. Of course, with solar eclipses, you don't want to be looking at them with your bare eye, since they say it can burn your retina. Anyway, we didn't go outside for it. But I remember it getting darker outside. It was a clear, beautiful day, so the difference was noticeable. It looked like it was evening-time when the eclipse took place. Emily and I were actually talking about this when I was in Atlanta. She remembered sitting in Mr. Brown's Analysis class, and she was thinking, at first, that it was 10th grade and that I was in there with her. But I was in Algebra II with her in 10th grade, and that was 1st period (I'm such a memory nerd :)). In 11th grade, I had Mrs. Peterson for Analysis. So anyway, I just remember that I was in Ms. Brannick's class at the time of the eclipse. "Next." (To quote Mrs. Brannick.... it's so much funnier to hear how she'd say it.)

And oh yeah, I seriously didn't want to get up this morning. And when I finally did, it did not help to find out it was raining outside and perfect weather for snuggling up and reading... I really wouldn't mind being asleep right now :).

*And Julie guessed the movie quote correctly!*

On Being Tested

Strive for Five weigh in was today, of course. I lost 3 pounds! Yipee! I don't know how that happened (I mean, you saw the lovely menu at the Pink Party!). Maybe it was my lack of groceries until last night.... Hmmm....

Well, I just got out of my first test in the crazy class. It took me about an hour and a half to complete. There were a possible 15 points (although she made a note that, if you got a perfect score on the test, it was actually 16 points, but it would only count as 15...). I'm not even remotely hoping for a perfect score. But it's one test down in there, one to go. April and I spent the remainder of class time talking and visiting. April's big complaint: the study questions she gave us didn't have anything to do with the test. Which doesn't really surprise me. I'd heard so many horror stories about people getting 4 out of 15 when they actually read the books and studied for the test. So, let me just say that I didn't put that much effort into preparing for it. It was open-book and open-note. I guess we'll see how much that helped me.

It did get me to wax philosophical about tests in general though. I mean, who really likes tests? I'm sure there are those random people out there who do, in fact, enjoy them. I think they should have their heads examined :). But, I'm sure they exist. While today's test, I'm sure, will not be a defining moment in my life, I am equally sure that I have had other kinds of tests that have been defining moments. And I know I will continue to have those. And again, who really likes tests? They are hard. Especially the ones that have significance. So, I thought I would search for the word "test" in the scriptures. I didn't find it. So then I thought about the word "tried." Because that's the same thing. There are many scriptures with this word. But the first one I got was pretty awesome and seems to have great application to my life.

James 1:3 - Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

Yep, there's that nemesis of mine... patience. I lack it, seriously. I know I've shared that in the past, my lack of patience. I also know I've mentioned that my mom's favorite phrase to me when I was growing up was "Patience is a virtue." Apparently I should have worked harder at developing patience back then. Maybe I wouldn't be having to learn it now :). So, anyway, a while back (about a year and a half ago now), I looked up scriptures on patience. And a few really struck me at the time. One of them happens to be the next scripture in James:

James 1:4 - But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

And also:

Romans 5:3-4 - And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope.

Of course, I find it amazing that all of these scriptures tie back in together with tests, trials, and tribulations, since really, those three words are conveying the same idea. I do know that it is through our trials and tests that we grow. We really wouldn't grow any other way. Without opposition, we would be content to be what we were and never try to become better. So, we are forced to grow through tests and trials. And it is amazing what we can become. This brings to mind a song I have on a CD in my car by Hilary Weeks. It's called "Be Still," and it is based on the scripture in Psalms 46:10 "Be still and know that I am God." (Of course, this is also saying to be patient in a way too). The song is beautiful. It's done in two parts. One part has a woman pleading in prayer, saying:

Another day, I'll try again.
Can you tell me, will this hurting ever end?
I've been taught, and I believe.
But it's been a while since I've been on my knees.
And I need You by my side.
I don't have the strength to make it on my own.
And Lord, do You hear my prayer?
How soon will You answer me?

Oh how familiar I am with the emotions and feelings set forth in those words. And that used to make me cry every time I heard it. Because I've felt that anguish, that feeling of being lost and alone, afraid and weak. Now, the part that brings tears to my eyes is the part in which "the Lord" replies:

I've watched you struggle.
And yet I can see how much you've grown.
Child could you feel My power in your darkest hour?
You were not alone.
I know you're weary.
I know you've had all you can bear
And now you ask of me, on bended knee.
I promise I'll be there.

Be still and know that I am God.
I'm by your side, whom shall you fear?
I'll hold you close, my child.
I am here.
Be still and know that I am God.
And there's no prayer that I won't hear.
Lift up your voice, my child.
I am here.

I know I still have a lot of growing to do. But one day, as I was listening to this song on the way to church, the phrase "I've watched you struggle. And yet I can see how much you've grown" really hit me. And I understood. I understood why I have gone through some of what I have gone through. It does not make it easier to struggle, but it makes it easier to endure. To know that I am being tried and tested so that I can become stronger. And as I've looked back on this stage of my life, a stage of life I never wanted and never saw myself as being in, I too can see how much I have grown. Knowing that does give me more courage to face future trials and tests. No, I don't necessarily want to have to go through more trials. Who does? But they will come. And I am being prepared now to face what is coming.

I don't know if these thoughts are all jumbled up, or if they even make sense. It was just something I was pondering. So, I thought I would share :).

Changes

Yeah, so my blog looks a little different, huh? I decided to change to the clustr map (below my play list) because it's on-going. The dots will stay and just get bigger :). Then I'll feel really loved and popular! Haha. The down-side is that it's not as colorful and pretty, but then, I am vaNILLA, so I guess that's not technically a down-side, is it :)? The up-side is that it fits nicely over on the right, whereas the other map did not. So, there ya go :).

Also, in my haste to tell the "Angel Gabriel" story, I forgot to mention 2 things: the hair dryer is not broken! I decided to try it again last night after my shower and it worked! It must have just needed a breather... Not that I over-work the thing, seriously. But it is aged, and maybe it needed a rest :). Number 2 is that it doesn't do me a whole lot of good to make out a grocery list and then leave it at my desk at work... Yep, that would be genius-me :). What can I say? I guess I'll hit Wal-Mart tonight after work and before Institute.

Because You Look Like an Angel...

Okay, seeing as I have nothing interesting to report (other than the fact that I need to go to the grocery store and that I have become a slllloooowww reader), I have decided to share another memory lane story. I have been compiling a list of these to use in moments such as this one :). Aren't you lucky?

So, about 10 and a half years ago, I was in Young Women's at church. I had 3 of the greatest Young Women leaders. (I should really plan ahead so I can have pictures to go with these posts...). The YW President was Jackie, her 1st counselor was Ladonna, and her 2nd counselor was Debbie. I had become great friends with Ladonna (and still keep in touch with her to this day, actually). And I'd also become close with Jackie and Debbie. Anyway, so toward the end of school (this would have been May or June 1997), a lot of people were getting ready to move away (they were military families, and so this happened often). I decided to make a "Cardenas Ward" yearbook of all the Young Men and Young Women at that time. Part of this entailed getting pictures and brief biographies from all of the parents. And this proved to be quite a chore. So on the Sunday before I was to have this project completed, I still didn't have all the pictures from all the parents. So Jackie volunteered to drive me around to the youths' houses and personally pick up the pictures, etc. from the parents. Now, I lived nestled between two military bases (as I may have indicated before). One was Ft. Clayton and the other was Albrook AFB. And some of the families lived in downtown Panama City. Well, there were several ways to get into Panama City, but the closest and most convenient for us (since Jackie's husband was Army), was to go through the bases. Now, it is important to remember that they check IDs when going onto the bases, but at this time (I don't know why) they were also checking IDs when you would leave the base. So, Jackie comes and picks me up. And she says to me, "Okay, we're going to go back through Ft. Clayton, because I want you to see this guy checking IDs at the gate. He's really cute." And I'm like, "Okay." And then she says, "Oh, and when he asks to see your ID, I dare you to ask him his name." And I said, "Why?" And she said, "Because, if he asks you why, then you can say, 'Because you look like an angel.'" Yeah right. Like I was going to do that! Just the thought of saying something so bold made me turn red. So I told her I wasn't going to say any such thing, but she still wanted me to see him. So, we go back onto Ft. Clayton, but this guy isn't checking IDs coming on base, but rather going off base. So, Jackie plans to come back through while bringing me back home, and we go on our merry little way.

We complete our tasks, and head back to my house. And, Jackie does not forget. So, we go back onto Ft. Clayton at the back gate, drive through Ft. Clayton, and get to the front gate. Well, there's a few cars lined up, and Jackie says, "Oh no! He's not there!" So I just resign myself to not seeing this totally cute GI, which is fine with me, because Jackie is still teasing me about asking him his name. But as we get closer, she sees that he is there. And right when we get up to the gate, she goes, "Say it Hila, I dare you!" And I'm like, "No!" So, Jackie takes her time getting her ID to show him, so that I can get a good look at him. And as he's calmly looking at her ID, she says, "What's your name?" You will never guess what he said. He goes, "Gabriel." Jackie looked over at me, we could not contain our laughs and giggles, Gabriel hands her back her ID and says, "Do I know you?" And she says, "Nope." And we drive off, in more laughter. What are the odds? Maybe he really did look like an angel ;). Which, I couldn't tell you, since I never got a good look at him. Which just about KILLED Jackie, since she'd made every effort to let me see him. She even wrote in my yearbook that year about how I should always remember Gabriel... And, so far, I haven't forgotten :). Yeah, I had some seriously fun YW leaders.

The Rest of the Story

My mom used to listen to Paul Harvey on the radio in the car. I can remember the tone and everything when he would say, "And now for... the rest of the story."

So, I slept like a rock at April's house. I was exhausted! I barely made it to midnight. I woke up twice, I think, but each time I went right back to sleep and dreamt each time. So I know I was sleeping hard! April had to go to work at 9:00, and I heard her leave. But I stayed there with Courtney until April's mom got there. I didn't even get out of bed until 10:15. Courtney had been up since sometime around 7 and was downstairs watching cartoons. April's mom got there around 11:05, and she brought these huge chocolate-covered donuts from a place called Lamar's, which is in Oxford, AL. That was seriously a huge donut. I ran up to the library where April is working to pick up a book that is always checked out at my library. And it fits into my medical horror genre, so yay! It's The Bone Garden by Tess Gerritsen. Yes, Christina, I know I said I'd wait and read your copy of the book. But I have to have 5 medical horror books, and I am struggling at finding good ones! I like Tess Gerritsen anyway, but I have read all her books except this one. But anyway, so thanks April! You are awesome! I went to the 12:00 session at the Temple before returning home. I talked to my mom on the way home, as well as Brad (who had called me the night before when I was watching My So-Called Life, and he made fun of me for it, which he used to do 12 years ago as well). They were all getting ready for the combined birthday party for Benjamin and Desiree. Both Christina and Tarylyn blogged about it, so if you want to see pictures, click on their blogs! My sweet babies are growing up.

Once home, I essentially dropped my backpack full of stuff, changed clothes, watered my flowers, and met Virginia to head over to Jeni's Pampered Chef party. That was fun. We learned about power-cooking. One of these days I'm going to be rich enough to afford all the Pampered Chef products that I want ;). Until then, I will settle for what I purchased while at the party: a meat drain guard thingy (this will come in handy), and the measure-all cup. Both of these are things I will use, so I feel like they were a good investment. Oh, and I also got a free 7-inch bamboo spreader with any purchase. So there's that too... I will say I didn't like the bamboo salad tongs. During the power cooking, the chef made a cheeseburger salad for us to eat while we were there (and Jeni made this chicken broccoli braid, which was divine). The food was wonderful (I did have my camera, but then I thought people would think I was nutty if I took pictures...).

After this, Virginia and I went to Coldstone for ice cream. I got the All lovin' no oven again. It's the 2nd one in the picture. Yum. Anyway, this was my birthday present to Virginia (I was sworn to secrecy at the time, but I think it's okay to say it was her birthday now :)). Then Celeste (she and I work together in nursery at church) came over and we all went down to Circuit City in hopes that I could get Hope Floats for $4. But they were sold out :(. But I did buy Julie's Christmas or birthday present... So Julie, that movie you keep telling me you don't own (surprisingly), you will own it soon. So don't buy it for yourself :)! Then we returned to my apartment and played the "I Love the 80s" board game. Whew, that lasted until about 11:30, and I was pretty bushed by then. Oh, and Virginia won. It was harder to play with only three players, because it's a team game. I forgot that little detail... Oh, but here we are. And please ignore my vastly-sized cranium. I'm telling you Elka, I have a humongous head. Yikes. In this picture, I'm blaming it on perspective. But even so... My head is ginormous!
So, I called Christina around 12:30 to see how the birthday party went for the kids. She said it was good. They had 2 cakes. Apparently Desiree started the day by being a little pill. But, she knew it was me on the phone and I could hear her in the background tell Christina, "I want to talk to Aunt Hawla." So so sweet. How can you not just want to grab her up and hug her and squeeze her??? And then, shortly thereafter, I crashed once again.

Sunday morning was very rainy and stormy! Great weather for sleeping. I do not know where my umbrella is (I thought it was in the car, but I was wrong). So, I got wet going to my car in the morning and also going into church. Oh well. After church, I went to Virginia's and tried copying one of the family video DVDs. Virginia's Play Station wouldn't played the finished product, though, so I only copied one and wanted to take it home to make sure it would play in my DVD player before copying the others. So, before I left, Virginia made some beef stir fry for us to eat for lunch. It was very good. Perhaps I need to invest in a wok. That seems to be a cool way to cook stuff up. I left Virginia's at about 2:45 and got home and put the DVD in to play. Good news! It works! I let it play the whole way through (4 hours!) just to make sure it was all there and complete. And it was! I was such a cute little 3-year-old :). I really was a tattler (on Brad). I can't believe I was the same age in that video that Desiree and Samuel are now. Sigh. It's really unbelievable. Probably one of the cutest things I say to my dad is this: "Daddy, are you taking a picture of me?" And he says, "Yes, hon." And I say, "Of me standing on this wock? (rock)." And then I have this cute little smile. Yep... I was once a sweet, innocent little thing ;).

Anyway, that sums up the rest of my weekend. Oh, except that hair-dryer died last night after my shower. I wasn't done drying it either. I will be purchasing a new one of these now, eventually...

Pink... It's my Favorite Crayon

Yep, a music title... Aren't you proud? So, here's Pink, courtesy of Aerosmith (Okay, if you want to hear it, search for it in youtube. I didn't watch it yesterday when I linked it. I just watched it today at work, and YIKES! I don't remember it being that bad.)

Once I got to April's on Friday afternoon, the first order of business (after going to Wal-Mart to buy ingredients and finding Valentine's Day candy 50% off, so I had to buy some of that...) was to start making the oreo truffles. This was an adventure, since April didn't have a very large mixing bowl and the cookies kept flying everywhere. But, I was finally successful at mixing the cream cheese and the cookies. April took these two pictures of me making the oreo balls (and in picture 1, I'm totally cheesing):April thought it was hilarious that I have them in neat little rows. After I was done making these, they had to freeze to harden up. So April and I just gabbed for a while. Then I got a shower, and then I started working on melting the chocolate. So, I got the white chocolate melted and started dipping the truffles. And, of course, I had made several of them before I remembered the food coloring! So, we ended up with 3 different colors of truffles. Because I also ran out of the white/pink chocolate. So, we had some that were white, some that were pink, and some that were chocolate (dipped in semi-sweet chocolate). They were beautiful nonetheless :). Then we had to start preparing the rest of the food. April got going on her mashed potato pie (we dyed the mashed potatoes pink). We got the ice cubes crushed (April did double-duty by crushing the ice while getting buff muscles by using her weight to crush the ice):We were using the ice for the Sunset Cooler. This consisted of orange juice mixed with strawberry syrup and then crushed ice. No, we didn't make up this recipe. I got it from one of my cookbooks. It was different, but not nasty... We also dyed French onion dip pink with food coloring. And then I made white cheddar macaroni and cheese, to which we added red food coloring to make it pink. So, here we all are, sitting in front of the table:
And here's our lovely pink spread (and notice how festive the table looks! With pink M&Ms in a pretty glass, and Hershey's kisses strewn across the table -- my doing, believe it or not -- and all the Valentine's stuff in the background):Okay, so let's go clockwise from the truffles. So, you see our beautiful (and delicious, but probably not so nutritious) truffles, then Cherry coke, pink mac and cheese, pink French onion dip, sunset cooler, M&Ms, plates ;), and pink mashed potato pie. And notice, in the background, were our 2 choices of movies to watch: Just Like Heaven and Pretty in Pink. We opted for Pretty in Pink :). How fitting! So, we watched the movie while eating the "food" part of our meal.
The sweets, of course, came later. In fact, they came much later. Right before we watched an episode of My So-Called Life. Do you guys remember that show? April got the whole one and only season on DVD for Christmas. It's funny... I used to watch that show from Angela's (Claire Danes' character's) point of view. I totally see it from her mother's perspective now. I think that makes me officially old. Oh, and Jordan Catalano? Probably he (actually, the actor was Jared Leto) should have been included on my "famous crushes" post. Because he was a hottie. But seriously, his character was a moron. And I have to say, watching that episode and hearing his ridiculous comments made me think, "He may have been the cutest guy in the high school, but he was dumb as a brick, and that's a total turn-off." Haha. I told April that too. Courtney was very, very excited about trying the oreo truffles. So, I took pictures of us all with our oreo truffles. Oh, I made about 30 truffles and we ate 6 of them that night (not 6 each, just 6 total), so now we both have left-overs. Ugh. I was sugared-out. April and I made it to about midnight. We watched an episode of Everybody Loves Raymond that I had never seen before. That is one hilarious show. Oh, and don't you like my new pajama pants? They are so cute, aren't they? Courtney modeled all her pink pajamas for us so we could choose one, and I had my pink frosted cupcakes on my pants ;). So, we were seriously in the pink. I seriously crashed when I went to bed. But, I will write about the rest of my weekend tomorrow. Just know that more fun (and more fat) are on their way to a Nilla-blog near you :).

Blushing Red

Yeah, so I'm sitting at my desk after lunch when my co-worker William comes back to our cube area from wherever he's been. And then I hear other footsteps behind him. I look up and there is a guy there with this beautiful arrangement of flowers. Beautiful. And can you imagine the shock I felt when they were for me?This, of course, drew a lot of attention from Annie and Le, who work in the cubes in front of William and me. And you really can't help but smile when you get flowers, only I was smiling and turning red all at the same time. Thank you Heath. They are beautiful.

I celebrated the rest of Valentine's Day by sitting at work until 5:30 and then going to class upstairs until almost 9. It was online, though, so it really wasn't so bad. I was able to accomplish some stuff for my other classes simultaneously, so that is always great. And I really have gotten popular. This will be the second month in a row that I have gone over my cell phone minutes. The popularity is a great thing, and everyone who knows me knows I could talk incessantly. But the bill when I go over my minutes is not a welcome one. So, I must not answer my phone before 9 p.m. today or on Monday, unless you're calling from a Verizon phone :). But feel free to call my phone over the weekend. It's free then. Anyway, so Christina called while I was in class and we talked a few minutes. She was reading her "birthday post" that I wrote for her. It's so fun to listen to her read the stories and laugh. And then, as an added bonus, she even blogged on her blog. So yay! Then my roommate called to see if I was home. Alas, I was not. Although, when I got home, my visiting teacher Jill had left me a plate of Valentine's cookies.

And it appears I am being put in situations that are making me feel the need to "rock the boat." I am not a boat rocker. I usually go with the flow. However, the latest news is that they are going to take out the remaining parking spaces outside of this library and put in a green area and a fountain. Because for some ridiculous reason, these people think students choose the universities they attend based on how many green spaces with fountains exist on the campus. Yeah, it's a good thing to have a pretty campus. But why don't they knock down some of the sorority and frat houses and build their fountains there? A good campus should be a blend of beauty and functionality. That just makes good sense. Anyway, my gripe is that they will probably start the process over the summer when there aren't many students here. And here's the thing: I paid $125 for my parking pass to park outside of my building. And the parking pass doesn't expire until August. Now, had I known this was in the works, I could have paid $80 for the parking deck pass. So, unless they plan to reimburse everyone who paid $125 to be able to park outside the building the $45 difference, I don't think they should do the change until the fall, when the new tags come into play. And while my little nothing self on the 4th floor and my opinion aren't going to mean much, I do believe I'm going to have to say something. Because that is just wrong. Oh, and for the record, I don't think treating your employees poorly says much about you as an institution.

In the good news arena... More Valentine's celebration is forthcoming! April and I are doing our Valentine's girlie night complete with all pink foods! How are we accomplishing this?, you might ask. You'll only get to know if you check back on Monday!!! Or maybe Saturday night, depending on whether or not I feel like blogging over the weekend ;). But it's sure to be lots of fun!

Happy Heart Day!

Well, I decided I should mark the occasion by breaking the Nilla mold and posting in red. I always notice how colorful Elka's posts are, but it never occurs to me to try to do that with my blog :). It is the VaNILLA in me coming out. And I posted the Google picture because I thought it was sooo cute. Isn't that so sweet?

Yesterday after work, Jeni and I went and visited with Jackie and Nancy. As always, Jeni and I had a great time visiting. I guess that straightener really works, because I walked into Jeni's house, she took one look at me and said, "You got a straightener!" I didn't know it was that obvious! What amazed me even more is that most of my hair was in a ponytail and just the bangs were noticeable. Mostly because yesterday was a blah day, so I didn't even do anything with my hair. I had straightened it Tuesday night after I blow-dryed it, but it was still looking straightened yesterday afternoon. So that's cool. After Visiting Teaching, I found the back-road way from Jeni's house to the Piggly Wiggly that has 35-cent Pepsi products in the vending machines. I told Jeni about it and she said that, up until 3 or 5 months ago, they had been 25 cents. Still a bargain at 35 cents though. So I bought myself a soda and headed home. Oh, I got the cutest Valentine card from my friend Becky and her son Brian. She had Brian in cupid wings and a diaper. It was just too cute. Thanks Becky! Here's a picture of Little B and myself back in November:
So after I got home and took a shower, I forced myself to read and take notes on another article for my 18-page paper. Yeah, I should have spent the rest of the night doing things of this nature. But I have a hard time forcing myself to do so. So, I settled on having read one article, cooked myself some Velveeta Shells and Cheese, emailed April to solidify our red/pink menu for tomorrow's Valentine's Girls' Night, and then hunkered down with Edy's Thin Mint ice cream to watch Dirty Dancing. I forget just how much I love that movie until I start watching it again. It should be noted that I was productive a little bit during the movie: I folded clothes. I didn't make it through the whole movie (just until the part where Penny tells Johnny, "Johnny what are you doing? You told me never to get mixed up with them." And Johnny replies, "I know what I'm doing." Then April called, so I paused it. Well, our conversation ended up lasting 2 hours, so I never did get back to the movie. I will save the remainder of it for another time. After all, I can't not watch the classic line: "Nobody puts Baby in a corner." Please note that you will never find this quote in my "guess the quote" box. It's too well-known and therefore not a challenge :). April totally cracks me up. It really is great to have a friend in the program, particularly one in several of my classes of the program. It's more fun to gripe with a friend than alone :). Oh yeah, and Stefanie also cracks me up. She left another sticky note with a code on it. She had the picture of a dollar and next to it wrote "value of" and then drew a down arrow. And then she had that multiplied by negative one. So, basically I was supposed to figure out "depreciate" (when the value of the dollar goes down) and then, when multiplied by a negative one, it's supposed to be positive, so she wanted me to end up with "appreciate" and then the rest of it I figured out... And it said, "I appreciate Hila." I have to give her props for her creativeness. I wouldn't have ever figured out a way to codify appreciate :). Stefanie is a neat roommate.

I woke up totally late this morning, and I knew it was supposed to be very cold outside. So, I went out and cranked up my car so it would warm up while I was getting ready. And it was very iced over, so pre-heating it was a good thing :). I noticed, though, that it didn't seem all that cold. Turns out that was a mixture of 2 things: 1...I was wearing my new pajama pants (hmmm... I find myself in a predicament... My RED pajamas with the hearts, with which you are all very familiar, are ideal for the festive girlie night, but I sure am tired of seeing them in pictures.... and I sure would like to introduce you to my new cute pajama pants that are pastel green with cupcakes on them and they are polyester...hmmm...) and those polyester pants are quite good at blocking the cold. And 2...the wind wasn't blowing. Anyway, on the way to work, I suddenly remember that I have a back window defroster. I've had this car for going on 4 years now. And I will have you know that today is the first day it occurred to me to use the back window defroster lines... Yeah, you can call me genius.

And finally, allow me to tell you my strange dream. So, I'm at work in the dream, only it's night-time. And it's obviously a Thursday night, because I am in class. And for some reason, I decided to stay at my work desk and have class here. Which, in real life (and I think even in my dream life, because rules of which I am conscious usually carry over into my subconscious :)), is not allowed. This floor closes at 5:30 and it is completely locked up. The public elevators won't even come to this floor (unless they are called from this floor) after 4:45. So in the dream, I knew I wasn't supposed to be using my computer for my online class. But I figured it wouldn't matter. So the floor is completely dark, except for the light around my area (which didn't look exactly the same... For one thing the cube walls were lower). So, I would alternate between sitting on the floor (? possibly because this is how I use my computer at home a lot?), and standing at my desk. So at one point, I'm standing at my desk on the phone, looking toward the little hallway that is on the other side of my cube (in real life, only I can't see it, because the cube is tall). And all of a sudden, this Asian guy walks in front of my desk. Now, this immediately freaks me out, because I'm under the impression that I'm alone here. I mean, it seems that the library building is still open (although it also seems it's around midnight, which makes it weird that I was supposedly in class...) I'm also under the impression that the floor is locked down and that nobody can get onto the floor. So this guy walks around my desk and tries talking to me. Only he doesn't speak much English. I also get the impression that he works on campus as a professor, but even so... I'm freaked out that he has gotten on the floor and shouldn't have been able to. He picks up the phone and dials the police (which, according to my dream, if you press 44 at any point, it will automatically call the police). So I'm talking to the dispatcher who wants to know if it's an emergency, etc. Eventually my supervisor shows up, my old department head shows up, campus SWAT guys show up to find the "breach" that allowed this guy on the floor. And I'm afraid I'm going to get into trouble for using my work computer for class. But I don't get in trouble. Oh yeah, and they did a print out of the phone numbers dialed (I don't know why this was important) and I could see where, twice, the 44 sequence was dialed. I have a strange little subconscious.

Okay, so I said finally before, so I lied. So sue me. You're the one still reading :). I thought I would do a mini-memory, seeing as it's Valentine's Day and all that :). This isn't really much of one. Just something I remember. I remember they used to send out candy-grams in junior high school. You could pay a dollar and send a candy-gram to someone else. I used to yearn for Cody (in 7th grade) to send me one. For the record, I never got one. I was a loser... (Just kidding). Of course, I also never sent one either. I was not that brave ;).

*Christina has also guessed the movie quote correctly!*