Cold Busted and Smelly Flashbacks

So, when the majority of your time at work is spent by yourself in a 45-foot container, you feel quite free in belting out the music loudly as you sing along with your awesome mix of music on your Zune (thanks a million, sweet Christina ;)). And so you do this for 2 weeks, since that's how long the container (file room) has been up-and-running. So what are the odds that you'll get cold-busted twice in one day??? Apparently they are pretty darn good, since that's what happened to me yesterday :).

The first time, I was hitting the high notes of Boston's More Than a Feeling (an awesome song, by the way), when I noticed the light shining in (it was a sunny day) at the other end of the container, indicating the door was open. And in comes Randy, smiling. So, I stop and pull out my earbuds. Too little, too late. He says, "I was trying to be quiet. I was on my phone. I've been out there for a while. I should invite you to my next karaoke night." Okay, I could've just chalked it up to him just telling me he heard me. But then he said, "More than a Feeling. Yep, that's a great song." I'm sure I was as red as the pajama top I'm wearing now. It's a darn good thing I know I was at least semi-on-key from a time I sang this while playing Rock Band, and I got decent enough scores. Yippeee! I wasn't murdering ears.

So you'd think I'd learn my lesson, right? Yeah, not so much. Because a few hours later, Bob busted me. Only this time I was singing to Enrique Iglesias' Hero. And Bob being about my parents' age, this wasn't a song he knew. He probably could have listened to me sing that whole song, and I wouldn't have known he was there, if he hadn't flipped the lights off and on to get my attention. Hahahaha... And he says, "Hold me in your arms tonight? What are you listening to?" Dang! I'm pretty sure I won't live this down.

So, I wonder who will bust me next. And what I will be singing. Because sometimes, you just have to sing. Hopefully, though, they won't catch me dancing up and down the middle of the file room on my way to a file.... It happens, I'll admit it here. But I'll deny it if you try to tell anyone who might catch me :).

Of course, the other downfall about jamming out to blaring music (even if you're not singing at that moment) is that when the Honor Guard starts shooting off shots right outside of the container, you kind of have a minor heart-attack -- even if you were forewarned that it'd be happening... Gunshots are loud. Just FYI.

Also, I went to work today. To get in hours in case I don't get a chance to work 30 hours this week. (Our work week runs Saturday through Friday... it's weird). And so I walk into the building from the back door. This hallway is an "employees only" area. And for good reason. It's where the door to the prep room is. I'm not allowed into the prep room, by the way. And I don't really mind that, since that's where they do the prepping of bodies. So, what I learned today, as I was walking down that hall, was this: apparently formaldehyde smells the same now as it did when I was a junior in high school. Usually the hallway doesn't smell. But phew! Today I got one whiff and thought, "Hmmm. This is familiar. It smells like cat dissection!" Hahahaha... What a memory! It's funny how our sense of smell is so linked to memory. Anyway, that link is to when I wrote about cat dissection a while back. Feel free to peruse if you haven't before :).

Front Plates Suck

So, with the end of February rapidly approaching, I have found it necessary -- or at least wise, so I don't end up with a ticket -- to renew my car tabs. This, of course, requires that I register my vehicle in Washington State. Goodbye to the Stars that Fell on Alabama. Goodbye 38-tag. Well, almost, anyway... See, in this glorious state, they believe firmly in two plates per vehicle. One for the front, and one for the back. Alabama requires but one plate: in the rear of the vehicle. Which makes good sense to me, since cops are generally following you from behind if they really care about you. Right? So anyway, how the heck do you put a tag (oops... plate. tag is Alabama-talk. I've been informed that they are called plates up here ;)) on this?:



So, I went and registered the car. Got the plates. Asked that pertinent question. The girl tells me to go to an auto parts store and ask for a plate installation kit. And to play the girl card and maybe they'd install it for me. Well, the people at the auto parts store suggested I go to the dealership to see if they make a bracket for installing a plate so that I wouldn't have to punch holes into the plastic. But the guy at the dealership tells me the bracket thing is $31 and change, and if it was him, he'd just poke the holes in and put on the plate, since I'd have to poke holes in the plastic anyway to install the bracket thing. So he suggested getting self-tapping screws from a hardware store. So, let me just go ahead and say that, had I known I would end up in a state that requires front plates when I was shopping for my car... I'd have definitely gone with something that didn't have a bubbled-out front. Okay, so I have successfully purchased the self-tapping screws. And that's as far as I've gotten so far. I have until Saturday to get those lousy plates on. What a fun adventure. I'm not really complaining about it ;). I just think it's amusing. How crazy, huh?

In other car news... As I was trying to go visiting teaching with my companion this morning, I ran into the parking police (the same one, mind you) twice. The first time was right after I'd parked in front of Amy's house and he was marking my tire, because I could park there for 2 hours. Which I had to ask him how much time I had, because I don't know these things... And then, as we were getting ready to leave the lady's house we visited, he came around the corner of the street and pointed at my car (thank goodness we were outside!!!), because I was facing the wrong way for the side of the street on which I was parked. In other words, though my car wasn't in motion, it was going against the flow of traffic. Good grief. Who knew they were so strict? I guess it's only in the middle of town, though. The parking police don't come around where my grandparents live. Note to self: don't live in the middle of town. Thankfully the guy was nice enough to not give me a ticket and to let me know about it. Getting a ticket would have really sucked.

Also, check this out... It snowed overnight again. About an inch. Crazy! But, the roads were completely clear. I had snow on my car that I had to get off before I drove this morning. But the sun was out in the morning and it was a beautiful morning. The temperature started dropping around noon, though. Last I heard, we were at 36 degrees. Yikes! It was pretty warm for a while there :). Okay, so 55 isn't exactly warm. But it felt pretty good to me :).

So anyway, pretty much I just have worked all week and not gotten a whole lot done that I had hoped to get done. My mom had to be gone for a managers' meeting for like 3 days. So that was lame. But, she just got home, so that's good :). Oh! So on Monday, the funeral home was so understaffed that they had me be the receptionist for 45 minutes. Can I just say that was really stressful?!? I mean, I didn't know who would get what call. And then an older gentleman walked in and wanted a form to fill out an obituary. They don't really do forms anymore, since it's all online, but he wanted a form. So, I had to call my mom and get her to help him. Because I knew nothing. Not that they expected me to, of course. And they were so immensely grateful that I took over the phone lines until they could get what they needed to get done and then take them back over. And then, as it turns out, my boss has asked if I'd be opposed to working on Saturdays and doing the phones all day, that way the receptionist and the other lady who does the phones every other Saturday would be there Monday through Friday. It makes me nervous. I realize it's just answering the phone. But still... I get nervous about making a mistake ;). But, I'm going to do it. We will probably start that in April, from the sound of things.

Okay, so that is about it. Nothing super-dee-duperly exciting.

More Partying

So I worked all day on Thursday. And then went straight to Christina's, because I spent the night since she had to go to a meeting at 8 the next morning. And quite frankly, I don't want to drive over anywhere that early. Call me lazy if you want. But I cherish my sleep. And I'm getting precious little of it these days. Don't get me wrong... I fall asleep quickly and sleep like a rock. Which is sweet in ways I can't explain :). But, it seems like I always have stuff going on... So, lack of sleep. So, moving on... I spent the night. It was amusing trying to put Desiree to sleep. You need to check out Christina's blog and read her "Random Quote from Desiree" at the top. Hopefully she won't change it for a few more days....

Oh, and though these pictures were actually taken on Tuesday, I like them. This is how I spend a lot of my time:




And isn't this too cute?

Aunt Hila gets lots of smiles from this little cutie.

So anyway, I went in to work later on Friday. But, I still got my 30 hours for the week! Soo woo-hoo!

Saturday was busy. I did a ton of grocery shopping and also sent of a huge check to the credit card company. Wham-o! So looking forward to that being gone! And then I ran all over the place taking groceries home, getting birthday presents, etc. Then it was off to Brad and Tarylyn's. I made Simple Smokies and chicken salad sandwiches and also took over a cheese spread and crackers. We decided to have little finger foods for dinner. And Christina made the cupcakes and she and Tarylyn decorated them. Half for Ben and half for Desiree. Because it was a joint birthday. Desiree turned 4 and Benjamin will be 3 tomorrow.


The grown-ups thoroughly enjoyed themselves by playing Apples to Apples

(I think we're addicted to this game...)

We sang Happy Birthday and ate cupcakes and ice cream.


And Emily told me she felt excluded (I'm the baby whisperer, so I know this...) :).

I assured her we'd shower her with cake and ice cream in the future....

And then it was present time:


The kids had a wonderful night. The adults had fun playing Apples to Apples. And we called it quits a little after 10, and I couldn't believe it was that late! UGH. But so fun and worthwhile :).

Today was church. A good day. Although I still don't know where all the time goes! I talked to Virginia, my dad, and went to a baptism, and somewhere in there, my day was gone! And tomorrow is work :). I'm so glad I enjoy working there. I look forward to it, and that's a good thing! So anyway, that sums it up for me!

*And Christina guessed the movie quote correctly!* (She was online as I wrote this blog, and so I told her to go guess it...)

Visiting Jimi Hendrix

Or at least his grave.

That's what I did on Monday. But only after I went to work and did more shifting of files (still didn't finish -- though I did finish today!!). I actually left work early on Monday to come home and get a shower and get ready to go with several others from the job to a funeral home in Seattle where they were having a rewards and recognition ceremony. Since I'd gone to work in jeans and a t-shirt and crocs, I figured I ought to change clothes :). Anyway, my mom got recognized for her 5 years of service with the company and she got a certificate and a pin. Meanwhile, I had a photo opportunity with Jimi Hendrix.


Apparently the funeral home has to clean off this memorial/grave almost daily. People sleep on it, eat on it, and do a lot of other stuff on it, from what I gather. I was happy to just take a picture by it. Because, hey -- you have to grasp photo opportunities when they come to you :). Jimi Hendrix had a bunch of songs. But the one with which I am most familiar is "All Along the Watchtower." So, you can click here and listen, if you want to :).

Anyway, they served us dinner, and a lot of it was shrimp, and some of it I thought wasn't, so I unwittingly ate shrimp. Blech! At least I saw the tail sticking out of the shrimp taquitos and didn't grab any of those! Of course, the down-side was that the other taquitos had the shrimp chopped up instead of whole (with a tail) so I was conned into eating one of those. Oh well :). I survived. But they had a lovely dinner for us. And it was fun to just do something different. And since my mom and I rode over with Randy, Ron, and John, we had a fun time riding and gabbing the whole way.

Also, my mom told me today that word is spreading about me doing the files here. And another office manager (in addition to someone at the location where Jimi Hendrix is buried, who told my boss way back in December that he'd be interested in having me do their files too) told my mom she'd like to borrow me to do their files. I guess we'll see how all that turns out, because I'm nowhere near finished here. But, the file room is looking awesome! Oh yeah, and the thing that would be undesireable about doing the files at Sunset? That's where that annoying guy (who is married to that annoying lady) from the Canada trip works. And he's a hugg-y kind of guy. I'm all about hugs... with certain people. And he's not one of them. He's also very loud and annoying. He was at that shindig on Monday night and came over to me and shook my hand and said, "Didn't I meet you at the last managers' meeting?" I said, "Actually you met me in Canada." I didn't share my name again, because I didn't want him to make the phlegm-coughing sound when he pronounced my name "correctly." Anyway, so then he goes, "Oh yeah! I did, didn't I? Is that good or bad?" I soooo wanted to say, "Depends on your perspective. For me, it was bad." Instead, I just smiled and laughed like the good girl I am... But anyway :). I'd do the files anyway, if they wanted me to. I'd just make every effort to avoid Mr. Obnoxious.

Spanish and Birthdays and Files, Oh My!

So as I mentioned last week, or earlier this past week (so much for that great memory...), I had to go do some English to Spanish translating. And did I mention I was a little nervous about it? Let me tell you just how nervous: I dreamed about it. I had no idea what to expect for this test (okay, what I didn't mention earlier was that this was for a job possibility, and the job requires Spanish and English fluency -- how fluent am I???). I was seriously hoping it wouldn't be oral, because I get so flustered when I speak in Spanish. It's not that I can't hold my own. It's just that I get nervous and self-conscious and end up slipping and tripping all over my words. Which, of course, totally helps to calm me down and do a better job, right? Anyway, so Thursday night, I actually dreamed about it. I dreamed they handed me a sheet of paper with the months and days of the week written in Spanish and they wanted me to pronounce them. So, I began... "Enero, Febrero..." Is it weird that I can read stuff written in my dreams? Do any of you do that? I can literally see things written and they are real words. Is it weird that I can dream in another language? Apparently both written and verbal... Huh. Anyway, so to say I was nervous is an understatement. So, I get in there about 30 minutes before I am due to go. Oh, but here's a shot of Mt. Rainier (or Fudge Mountain, if you're Sam) on my way down. It wasn't the clearest of days, but you could still see the mountain.

Oh, and I should also tell you that I was giving a chocolate cake a ride in the backseat. I'll explain why later :). So, anyway, I get there earlier than I was due, and they ended up just having me go back with all the others at the 10:30 slot. When I walked in, I was shocked to see so many people. But, the reason there were so many was because they were taking other tests that I had already taken previously (proof I can write a cohesive memo, I can file alpha-numerically, and I am at least a little bit library-savvy). So I just had to take the Spanish part. Well, it was written. Phew! I was still nervous, though. And I had to think as I translated, so it wasn't helpful when the lady started giving loud instructions to everyone else... But, I finished in about 10 minutes (I had to translate the instructions on one of the tests I took previously (the writing sample) from English to Spanish). I don't know how I did, but I hope it wasn't bad. I'll tell you what I didn't know: how to say "suddenly" in Spanish. I thought about it yesterday, and I think I could have put "de un momento," but maybe that isn't right either... Oh well. I'll keep you posted. Even if it's bad news :(.

So, then I went and picked up frosting and ice cream for Christina's birthday celebration! Because she turned 24, you know. And Desiree turned 4, but I think Christina and Tarylyn are doing a joint-birthday for Desiree and Benjamin again this year. So, Friday's celebration was all about Christina! I wanted to do something unique to her, and I had been thinking about it for a while. I finally came up with it! I decided to decorate her cake with things from things we both like! And I know that made a lot of sense. But, so you know... We both like Bones, and Roswell, and Twilight. So, I found gummy vampire teeth to symbolize Twilight. I found little green aliens to stand for Roswell, and I couldn't find any of those Halloween candy skeletons they have (go figure, since it's nowhere near Halloween!), but I remembered a skull lollipop we actually had in the candy stash upstairs (it's not chocolate, so it was safe)!! And the skull was to represent Bones. And I even made it look like it had been buried and dug up :). See!!!

My one mistake was thinking I could use the candles to form the letters for each thing... Not so much. Thank goodness Tarylyn had a thing I could squeeze the frosting through and fix my mistakes and write the letters! Too bad I didn't have a different color of icing, though :(. But, it was sooo fun! And here was Christina's reaction:


Brad's reaction was that he called me a dork. However, my recollection is that my rock says conceited and his says dork. So, there! Anyway, we ate pizza, drank sodas, and had cake and ice cream and peanut butter blossoms that Christina made (and I couldn't tell her about the cake, or that would ruin the surprise!). But they were so good anyway, so no complaints here! We also played Apples to Apples, which is always fun. Sometimes we laugh sooo hard!

And oh yeah... Check out how bright the room was with just the candles! You are an old lady, Christina!


So here we are, right before we were leaving for the night... Sam should be a poster-child for good dental hygiene. He was brushing his teeth during the picture. Funny kid.


On Saturday, believe it or not, I went to work. With my mom. This is mostly because we needed to do some serious work on that filing room (including moving filing cabinets... Good grief that was some hard work!). My mom had taken Friday off to take my grandfather in for a minor surgery, so she was making up the day on Saturday. I went in to get ahead on my hours in case something last minute came up this week... since that seems to happen a lot. This way I have some leniency in my hours and can hopefully get all 30 this week. So this is the file room...


And this is how I felt about it at the end of the day... After moving 6 or 7 filing cabinets, which we could only do after we emptied the files (hence the boxes on the floor full of files) and then re-filling the cabinets in the reverse order of how they were put in there in the first place! My defense is that I didn't give the go-ahead on the funeral files. I was in charge of the cemetery files. They are in there just fine and dandy. And the funeral ones would have been okay, but for the fact that you have to account for expansion and what is easiest in that regard. Anyway, it's unfinished (those boxes of files are still on the floor as I type), and I'm hoping no one goes in and has a heart attack tomorrow morning!


And this is what I look like when Desiree takes a picture of me :).


And this is something I got that made me smile :). Julie found a friendship journal idea and so we are going to start it! We are going to write our favorite memories we've shared in this journal and take turns. Like one month I'll have it, and then the next month she will. And it'll be so fun to see each other's perspectives on things! And see what one remembers that the other doesn't! I'm so excited about it!

What Is Love?

Man, I'm really racking up these song-title posts! You know you know this one :). I can't help but get this picture in my head, every time I even think of this song... And I have to laugh.

Well, it is, after all, close to Valentine's Day. And since I don't have a sweetheart this year, I'll be celebrating on Friday the 13th instead! Hahahaha, I'm so kidding :).

Actually, it occurs to me how loved I am. Not in that romantic way (though I hope to be again someday). But in so many ways. As a daughter, as a sister, as a sister-in-law, as an aunt, as a cousin, as a friend. And I've really been felt loved this week. Here are my Valentines:



1. So Christina showed up at work yesterday. She'd taken Emily to get her shots for her 2-months. Poor baby :(. And so you know we all had to fawn all over her at work. And hold her and love her. Such a sweet baby. But anyway, the reason Christina came there was to give me a Valentine present. The Little Mermaid. They've put it back in the vault, and there were only a few left on the shelves at her work (Best Buy). In fact, the one she got me was the last one. I've been wanting to get this DVD since it came out in October of 2006. So, for over 2 years, I've wanted it. But, I haven't gotten it for myself because Disney movies are expensive, and I just can't bring myself to spend $20 on a movie. Not because it's not worth it... Mostly because I'm a penny-pincher. But Christina knew I'd been wanting it. So, she got it for me. And told me it's because I'm the best sister anyone could ever have. Which she told me in front of everyone at work. Gosh I love that girl. I love that we have such a special relationship.

2. I got home from work today and found a package waiting for me on the table. It was from April and Courtney. And inside? Milano Mint Dark Chocolate Drenched cookies and a card for V-day. (The cookies are so worth every single calorie (of which there are 100 per cookie), by the way). Thank you so much April and Courtney! Have I mentioned before that I have been so richly blessed with wonderful friends? I seriously have. I'm not even sure that I deserve such wonderful friends. Both my mom and Christina have commented on what wonderful, sweet friends I have. They are so right. And though I'm sad we aren't getting to do fun stuff like this again this year, I am so thankful and feel so loved that April would think to surprise me with a package :).

3. I got a goodie bag from Em (my Relief Society President). She's so sweet and thoughtful. She always says the kindest things to me. One day she told me that I give her such a feeling of peace when I'm around, and that she needs that. I thought it was such a sweet thing to say.

Let me make a disclaimer on that picture... That was like the 10th picture I took trying to get one where I didn't look tired and haggard. I must be tired and haggard, because I couldn't get one I was really happy with. But, that one will have to do. We moved the file room at work (well, the filing cabinets), and while I was not doing the lifting and moving of the cabinets, I was clearing them all off and then loading everything back into the container where the new file home is. I should take my camera next week and get pictures. It's really cool how much room there is now! And they're going to put in bookshelves, so we'll have even more storage! Anyway, so I'm sore and tired! And I have a blister on my toe :). Woe is me!

Random fun news... My friend Stacy is making sure I'm involved (even though it has to be long-distance :( ) with her (what I know will be) awesome Twilight party! Thanks Stacy for making me feel a part of it all!

And to top off a pretty darn good week... An "old" friend found me! (Old as in from the past... Since she can't be age-old, because then I would be too ;)!!!) And we have spent a couple days sending messages back and forth, catching up on each other's lives. And it's so wonderful. So wonderful to be back in touch :). So wonderful, once again, to have been blessed with the best of friends throughout my life. So glad to be back in touch, Jessica :).

Oh, and one more thing that makes this week fun and wonderful:


Nothing better than a baby's smile when she's just learning how to do it on purpose :).

The Tax[woman]

You can listen here.

Perhaps I'm not really the taxwoman, as I'm not the taxer. I'm the taxed. But, I did file my federal just now. I will admit, I am terrified by the tax season. Simply because I am scared of making a mistake and getting audited. I guess you just go with the flow and keep all your information. In an organized manner, which I could totally do better. At any rate, at least that's done. And, I'm totally thrilled with the amount I'm getting back -- as long as I didn't make any mistakes, that is :). I guess there are perks to not working 1/2 the year. Anyway, so the good news is that my credit card debt is diminishing quickly at this rate :). Woohoo!

Also, wish me luck on Friday. I'm going to be doing some Spanish to English translating. I'm a tad nervous.

Did I Do That?

To go along with the title, please click here and turn up your speakers :). You can hate me later. Because, having that in my head, I have to admit I kind of hate myself now ;). I never liked that show. I don't really know why. I just didn't. It made me so mad when it replaced Growing Pains and my pre-teen dreamboat Kirk Cameron.

So, do you ever do something really stupidly embarassing? I guess mine aren't the worst in the world, but they are so funny to me. And so I'm going to share :). One's recent... And the other is something like 7 or 8 years old. But they are both classic.

So, the week before last, I was in the filing room, and my mom and R came in to give me a hard time. Then R got to looking at all the filing cabinets and asked my mom if we had keys for them (they are never locked right now). My mom said that we do. And then I said, "Well, if they are opened, you don't have to worry, because when you push in the lock, they don't lock if a drawer is open. See?" And then I pushed the lock in on the cabinet where I had a drawer open. And wouldn't you know it? It locked. And R started laughing and said, "Well, we do now!" (Apparently you have to press them all the way in and hear it click -- then it will lock. Otherwise you can press it back out from the other side of the open drawer, which I found out when I leaned against several locks over the course of my filing). So, my mom went and brought me the keys so I could go through them all and find the right key. Yeah, that was fun. And kind of embarassing. Not the kind of dumb thing you want to do in front of your boss! So, later on, after I unlocked the drawer, R was passing by the room, and I said, "I just want you to know that, having witnessed that situation, you should have the utmost confidence in my abilities." And I laughed. Yep, that was a good one.

The second one is very similar. Me making a very matter-of-fact statement.

So, it was several years ago. Heath and I were dating and were out eating at Buffalo's, probably for all-you-can eat wings night. And the servers would always bring around this huge tray of delicious-looking desserts at the end of the meal to try to entice you. So there we are, eating. The people in the booth in front of us are finished with their meal, so the server brings the yummy dessert tray. The customers turn down the desserts and the server leaves. I turn to Heath and say, "You know, those are fake desserts made to look just like what they serve." He found that interesting enough; he didn't know that. I assured him it was so... Because the desserts would go bad after a day of sitting on a tray, you know? Besides, I'd seen plastic food displays that looked amazingly real and realized that they weren't. So anyway, I was spreading my wisdom. So, eventually, we're done eating. The server brings the dessert tray to us. We decline (all-you-can eat wings doesn't leave much room for dessert...), and we pay and leave. As we're walking out the door, I spot the dessert tray sitting unattended by the door. So I say, "See? They're fake." And I poke my finger into a nice piece of REAL cheesecake. I can only imagine the look on my face. We left pretty quickly then. And left behind a cheesecake with a finger hole. Genius. I swear, sometimes I do the dumbest things.

So, there you go :). A couple of random stories just for the sake of blogging... And for the sake of all Hilas and potential Hilas -- so they will be named Hila and not Ellen :).

Also, I know the movie quote this week was super-duper easy (I got several commentaries on how easy it is!), but I'm doing some of them from memory, since all my movies are packed still. As is the notebook in which I wrote down all the quotes as I watched the movies (my preferred method of obtaining the quotes -- I know! Crazy!). But, at least I scored a bunch of comments! That said:

*Julia-Ann, Julie, Kristy, and Heather have all guessed the movie quote correctly!*

Paying the Piper

So, my blog and the blogging world at large have been communicating with me, requesting an update. They use Elka as their medium for communication.

It's amazing the difference having a job makes. Especially when it's a job in a place where you feel comfortable and can laugh... a LOT. I have some of the most hilarious stories from this job, and I've only been working there 3 weeks! And to show you what I mean, I'll share one with you (which actually leads to another one... in true Nilla fashion).

Okay, so they are moving the file room to a huge 45-foot long container. The container has been purchased, moved, and fixed up. It's not quite done, but they have the insulation in, the walls up, the heater in, the electricity in. It's HUGE compared to the small room I've been working in the past 3 weeks. This is a much-needed change, and we are excited about it. Okay, so in this morning's meeting, R (the boss) decides to tell everyone what happened that morning, since he figured that since one person knew, eventually we'd all know. Hahahaha... It's seriously a good thing R has such an awesome sense of humor. Anyway, so this morning was frigid. Dumb windows were iced over again (not yesterday, when I went out early to start my car for that purpose -- but today, when I didn't go out, because I figured they wouldn't be icy since they weren't yesterday -- don't you hate that?), so that tells you it was cold. It was probably below freezing when I left for work at 8:20 this morning. But I don't think it was in the 20s. Anyway, so at the funeral home, R gets this idea to go into the container to see how well the heater worked. While he's in there, the door closed -- locked, because they hadn't replaced the knob. And it locks in such a way that you can't get out from the inside. Don't ask me how, I just know that's the situation. So, there aren't even any chairs in there, and R isn't sure when anyone would go looking for him. So he ends up kicking the door open -- and bending something in the process (he has 2 master's degrees in karate). Someone in the meeting asked if he tried his cell phone. He confirmed that he had, but that he didn't have service (I mean, he's enclosed in a steel container). Apparently the cell phone said SOS. (SOL would have been even funnier, but even so). So he says, "I probably could have dialed 911, but do you think I was going to do that?" And so there is me... With my big mouth and fiesty attitude... And I say, "Well, you did call for toilet paper that time." And the room exploded with laughter. And he said, "And by the way, we have an opening in the file room." And we all laughed some more. Okay, so the toilet paper story... So, one day, my mom gets a phone call at her desk. It's R on his cell phone. He asks her to bring toilet paper to the bathroom and leave it outside the door. Hahahahaha.... My mom starts laughing her head off, and everyone else in the office can hear her. R is saying, "Don't laugh." She says, "I'm not laughing." All the while laughing. So, everyone hears the story, and one of the ladies goes laughing down the hallway and throws toilet paper at the bathroom door. And so, he's never been able to live that story down. He says, "I called the one person I thought I could trust to keep it quiet, and what do I hear? I hear everyone else busting out laughing!" And so when I made that comment about him calling for TP... Well, the whole room just exploded. The TP story was before my time. But it's one of the most hilarious stories ever. Ah... What a funny day. And lunchtime was even funnier. But, that's another long story. There's a lady there I really like and we share 80s quotes and stuff. She says, "Good times, good times" a lot. Which got us on the topic of SNL. Oh my... I laugh a lot there.

Okay, so that was a long story. Basically, I'm enjoying work. It's sweetly flexible too. Yahoo!

In sad news, though... I discovered today that my first student loan payment is due on March 2nd. I'm shedding a tear of irritation that I've already accrued $13 in interest. ARG. I despise paying more than I need to. So, my goal for 2009 is to be completely out of debt. I'm planning to be credit card debt free (again -- thanks expensive Washington move!) by June at the latest. And then I will transfer the money I'm paying on that to my student loan. Of course, that's assuming all things remain equal. You never know... Miracles could happen and I could end up with a great-paying job (in this economy it's doubtful). Or I could find my dream-man and he turns out to be a millionaire. (Okay, so when you stack those two possibilities up against each other... The job looks more likely, even in this economy!).

*Elka, Christina, and Tarylyn have guessed the movie quote.*

Like Sand Through the Hourglass...

...These are the days of the Nilla life.

I totally stole that title from Juliebean. Because it makes me laugh every time I hear her say it (or read her write it ;)).

So, would you believe me if I told you that I had every good intention of blogging in the latter part of last week? Or that I had every intention of blogging over the weekend? To tell you the truth, I'm not even sure what the heck happened! All I know is that I ran out of time. And this week is shaping up to look roughly the same... if not worse (as in busy).

Work is continuing to go well. I have knocked out the majority of the backed-up filing that had been sitting for about 3 or so years. Everyone seems happy that I'm there helping to get the file room organized. Which is a good feeling :). I really like the people up there. They are fun, and we have a lot of laughs. Which brings me to an observation... One would think that libraries and funeral homes would be horribly dull places in which to work. I can vouch for the fact that the exact opposite is true. I've had some serious fun working in both locations. Consider:

Houston-Love Memorial -- go walking around under the library building and signing my name to the page rec room wall (twice :) -- 2000 and 2008).
Troy University -- make three quilts in the span of a few months with Donna during my lunch breaks!
UA -- have rats living in close proximity to my cubicle, as I sadly found out a mere 2 weeks before I left
The funeral home -- generally just fun back-and-forth comments. The boss is a guy with a great personality and sense of humor. In fact, last week I told him he got fired while he'd been outside. He looked at my mom and said, "Whose idea was it to have her work here?" And my mom said, "Yours." And he said, "Darn!" And laughed. We had a conversation like that today too. Can't remember what started it, but he said something about me working toward perfection, and I said, "What do you mean 'working toward'? I'm already there!" And he laughed and said, "Man! You're on it today!" Ah, it's so fun to exercise my big mouth.

*Oh... so here's a laugh. The other day I was filing in the file room and one of the ladies that works there came in and she said, "It smells funny in here. I hope a mouse hasn't died in the walls." And sadly, I'm starting to smell it too... that sickly smell. Thank goodness I'll soon be filing in the new file room! Hmmmm.... Aren't there something like a zillion stories about me and mice? Or rats? If you don't recall, you can have your memory refreshed here and here and here. Okay, that's way sad... Because I thought there were only two. And there are 3!!! Yikes!

Good grief, I thought I was further in this post than this!

So, I've seen some of my family. Love the kids. They crack me up. Took some cookies over to Brad and Tarylyn and the kids and played with the kids for a little bit while my car was getting an oil change at Wal-Mart. (Oh my gosh... the slowest Wal-Mart in the world, I SWEAR -- my car would be in the next batch to go in, and they still quoted me 2 hours! What? Do they have to look up the procedure at the public library?). Anyway, so while I was there, Benjamin did a lot of talking. Samuel went around in circles saying "I can't take it anymore." I don't know what he was talking about. And Saria wanted to be held and hugged. I can't believe she's almost 8. It's unreal. I remember seeing her the day she was born. Where does the time go? Desiree answers Christina's cell phone now, but she doesn't say anything into the phone until you talk to her first. The first time this happened, I wasn't sure what was going on (because Christina gets really bad reception where she lives, so I thought the call might have been dropped). Finally I said, "Des?" And she said, "Aunt Hila?" Hahahaha... Funny girl. She'll be 4 in 10 days. Benjamin will be 3 at the end of the month. Good grief! Slow it down! And Alysha turned 13 today! I knew her when she was 3! Do you know how old that makes me!?! Hahahaha...

Anyway, so today I slept an extra hour, because I seriously needed it. Until today, I hadn't slept past 8:15 all week! Okay, I know some of you probably get up way earlier than that. But, I've become rather spoiled and used to what we'll call "Ellen hours." (Only not really, since I do go to bed while it's still dark outside... like around 2 a.m.). And that's only cool if you can sleep until 10ish. So today I got up at 9 and then went to work by 9:30 and worked. And tonight my mom and I had to make a bunch of appetizers for a baby shower I'm helping to do for a couple of the ladies in the ward tomorrow night. And what is my issue anyway? Why do I go and volunteer to do something so involved as the oreo truffles? Okay, so they aren't hard to do, but man, they do take time! Especially when I make a genius decision to double the recipe! UGH! I soooo owe my mom big time for giving up her own me-time to help me :). Or maybe we're just even :). And tomorrow I'll be working all day (no sleeping-in tomorrow if I want all my hours for the week), then going to the baby shower. Then Wednesday I'll work until I take Christina to an appointment and then I'll have Institute. Then Thursday will be work and RS Presidency meeting. And Friday, not sure what that is yet at night, but I'm watching the girls for Christina to go to work that day. And Saturday, I have a RS brunch at the Stake center. And Sunday I'll have a meeting at 7 in the morning. UGH! And currently I'm giving up my Roswell time to blog :). That way Elka can't get onto me ;)!

Also, I should be reading. And applying for a job. But, I'm soooo going to bed soon. Maybe after an episode of Roswell :). What is wrong with me?!?

Oh, and just for posterity's sake... Or because I was playing around with my camera and thought I'd take a picture for this post... Here you go. You get to look at me -- listening to my mp3 player and messing with my hair :). Aren't you lucky? (I need to start carrying my camera with me again so you can actually have interesting pictures to look at...).