You May Call Me Master Nilla

Would you believe that a university somewhere actually gave me a Master's degree?!?!

Hahahaha!!! (That's my evil laugh :) -- to go along with my evily-arched eyebrow).

Yeah, so I finally got my diploma!! Woohoo! I was excited. I will say this... UA really cheaped out on me. Apparently the glory of walking at graduation is to get the little folder for your diploma to look all pretty. Troy actually sent me my diploma in that little holder thing all pretty like in mail. I didn't walk with my B.S. either, but they still sent me that holder thing. I was suprised UA didn't send my diploma like that too. What cheap-os. Oh well. My mom thinks she's going to frame this for me. I didn't frame my other one. It's currently in a box in my grandparents' garage, along with all of my other stuff (including my piano). Oh, and I was so going to do pretend mug shots with this diploma. I even took the pictures. But my profile shots make me look like a hag. So, I nixed that idea. Would have been funny, though :). If I had a different face!

Those of you who have been looking at Christina's blog know that she did have her appointment yesterday and that she did find out what she's having. If you haven't checked, go check out her blog :). She and I also baked cookies, which is also mentioned on her blog. Today I watched Desiree all day. She is funny. I told her she had to take a nap, and she never much cares for that. So I don't force her to stay in her room, but if she doesn't, then the rule is she has to lay on the couch with Aunt Hila and she can't play. Today she ended up falling asleep on me. It was so sweet. I was watching some TV and noticed that she had gotten still and quiet. I knew then that she was asleep. She can be a little pill, though, when she hasn't had her nap. She had to wake up, though, since Brad called me this morning to see if I could go to his house to meet Saria getting off the school bus since they were going to go to Northern WA for the day for his job and he didn't know when they'd be back. So, Desiree and I went and met Saria getting off the bus, and then I watched them there at Brad's until they all got home. So, while the girls did their thing and played, I watched episodes from Season 2 of The Office. I stayed a while after Brad and Tarylyn and the kids got home so that Desiree could play with Samuel and Benjamin. But eventually, I had to take her home to her mommy. I do love the kids. They are all the cutest little munchkins.

Oh, here's a little video of Desiree from yesterday. I want to explain the video... One time Desiree was laughing and she snorted, so I pointed at her and said, "I heard you snort! I heard you snort!" She thought that was so funny, so she laughed even harder. Well, I, too, have a tendency to snort when I laugh sometimes, so the very next time she heard me do it, she pointed at me and told me, "I heard you snort! I heard you snort!" Only the way she does it is so cute. And then she got to where, if she snorted, she'd point to me and say, "You heard me snort! You heard me snort!" So, I was trying to get her to say it for the camera. She kind of did, but it's so much cuter the way she usually does it. But, you can watch this video and hear her cuteness and endure my horrendous (purposeful) snorting.

And in the job-search news... I got an email back from Seattle Public Library telling me that I qualify for a pre-interview. I can set up the time on any Thursday afternoon that is convenient for me. I just have to email someone and set it up. With SPL, it's a long process, apparently. What this means is that I can go in and interview for 3 different types of librarian positions. If I want to qualify to be on the list of possible Children's Librarians, then I have to have a story prepared for the interview. For YA, I have to prepare a 5 minute book talk. I can also interview for Adult Services. I can interview for all 3 on the same day and then, if I qualify for them (all or any), they put me on a list for a year as being "qualified" and then as job openings come available, they can call me in for an interview in a specific branch. Of which there are something like 28 (I think) in Seattle alone. Whew! Seattle is a huge city! Okay, I just double-checked... It's 27 branches and the bookmobile makes 28. HUGE!

The Ratventures of Nilla

I swear, it must be me...

So yesterday I was sitting here working. All of a sudden, William calls out calmly, "Oh rat!" I said, "What?" And he said, "A rat." I said, "Are you serious?" He said, "Yeah, and it's a big one." Well, he got up and said, "I'm going to go get a box." I rapidly closed out of the programs in which I was working, and I left my cubicle. The good news is that, at that point, the rat hadn't been in my cube. It crawled into a huge shelving unit that spans the wall between my cube and William's cube. Well, in the end, we found out that these rats had a nice little home underneath the bottom shelf of the shelving unit. Ugh. And this rat was massive. Turns out they had been stealing Hershey Kisses that had been set out at Easter time and bringing them to their little home. It was completely disgusting. I took a picture, but I think I'll pass on this one. Anyway, the rat ended up escaping to freedom yesterday by climbing over my cubicle walls and jumping. And then visiting someone else's cube, who screamed, and then running off. At least I know why it was they were always found back near my cube. Ugh. I was starting to get a complex. I spent a good 30 minutes disinfecting my entire cubicle yesterday, after the rat got cornered in my cube and scaled my cubicle wall. I even sprayed the fabric on the cubicle wall with lysol. I don't care if it smells like lysol for years... at least it's been sprayed.

Good news! I finally got my other grade! I graduate with a 4.0 GPA in graduate school! Yippee!!!

Sad news: I went to my last class of Institute here last night :(. I always learned so much there, and last night was no exception. I will miss it. But, I hope they will have a good Institute program in the area to which I'm headed. We shall see...

Bad news: It's freakin' hot outside. The last several days have reached upper-90s and low 100's. Yes, that's what I said. And with something like 99.99999% humidity. I talked to my mom on Saturday and I said (out of curiosity, since I'll be there soon), "What's the weather like there?" And she said, "Oh, today will probably be a cooler day." I said, "What does that mean?" And she said, "Oh it'll probably reach into the 70s today." I said, "Okay, if 70s is cool, and you were complaining about it being hot the other day, what do you consider hot?" And she said, "Well, it's been getting into the 80s." Sorry, Mom. I have no sympathy for your stifling 80-degree weather. Maybe I'll be sad about it in 5 years. But right now, that sounds like what we would consider "cool." Let's just say I won't miss the heat and humidity of Alabama ;).

*And I forgot to say that Julie knows the movie quote!*

100 Things About Me -- Part 2 of 10

Well, since I have nothing new and exciting to report. Except, check this out... Talk about a reality check! I have exactly 21 days left at my job. That is 3 weeks. That means I have to put in my 2 weeks' notice next week! I can't believe how quickly the time has gone. In roughly 6 weeks, I'll be in Washington. Strange to think about it that way, really. Also, I have gotten one of my grades -- the information technologies class grade. It was an A.

And, to the list!

11. I love the dollar store. Especially Dollar Tree here in AL. You have to know a good deal in order to make it worth your while... But if you're good at that, then you will enjoy the store :). Last night I bought 3 Mountain Dews for $1.00. Now that's a good deal.
12. One day I hope to have a semi-professional kitchen. This means I want it to be big, and I want to have the really nice Subzero refrigerator. I want lots of cabinet space. And two ovens would probably be good.
13. I love to cook, even though I haven't really done as much cooking over the last two years.
14. My pet peeve is a dirty or cluttered kitchen.
15. Clutter everywhere else doesn't irk me nearly as much as in the kitchen :).
16. My absolute least favorite chore is cleaning the shower.
17. I don't like mayonnaise in anything except chicken salad or pasta salad. I do not put mayo on my sandwiches -- I'm a mustard-only kind of gal.
18. I want to grow a garden. Not as interested in the flowers as in the vegetables, etc.
19. I want to own my own home.
20. I am excited about my future. I know it will be bright :).

School's Out... Forever!

This is, of course, a song-title post. Everyone knows the song. It's a classic. And I cannot begin to tell you how long ago I decided on this post title. I've been waiting to use it for quite some time now :). I find it particularly interesting that I just linked you to a song by a person who my dad told me to never listen to :). I know I shared that before. But it's so funny to me. Alice Cooper was not high on the list of my dad's favorite people. He was acid rock, according to my dad (and probably he really was). Oh well. I like the song. Sorry Dad :). It's the message that counts here... School's out forever. I am officially done with grad school. I had my last class on Saturday. Here's what we looked like (we were all dressed up to present our projects):


So, Friday night, the class met and we decided what we were going to do to present our stuff the following day. We agreed that we wanted to look dressier than usual, so we went with business casual. Saturday morning we were to meet at this restaurant named The Waysider for breakfast. It was a very small place! At first we were all crammed very tightly together, but luckily, someone left and we were able to add another table to our party, and we could spread out more. I got the special, which was a bacon and cheese omelet with hashbrowns (because I don't eat grits, so I subbed them), biscuits, and orange juice. It was good, except the egg in the middle of my omelet wasn't completely cooked. Which grossed me out a bit. I like my eggs cooked. Completely. So here's what we looked like in the restaurant... And I'm not sure why the girl couldn't back up and get everyone in the picture... But the professor is at the front with her face cut off... Oh well.


After breakfast (the teacher treated everyone... wasn't that nice?), we all headed back to the university and got ready to present. But the professor wanted us to do an exercise first, so we had to pick out two pictures from a room full of various pictures. One picture was to represent what we felt about the class, and the other picture was to represent where we are in our career. Then we had to explain to the class. The two pictures I chose were: one of a group of penguins all going into the ocean together -- which I said was like our class, because we were all part of the group and embarking on these projects together. The other was a rock climber, which I said was symbolic of me climbing higher in my career, because I now am a professional, and I am leaving the para-professional field behind in my career. Anyway, then we presented. We were done by about 12:30. I went and got gas (always a joyful experience with gas prices as they are -- I paid $3.91), and then treated myself to a rootbeer float from Sonic. I went home and read and took a very mini nap. I talked to Julie, read some more, got a shower, read some more. Are you seeing a pattern? I finished Fearless Fourteen. I watched Swing Time, another Fred and Ginger movie. I have to say this one was not my favorite. It was good, but really not my favorite. Oh, and in case you were wondering what I looked like after school, here you go :):


I have another one in my photobucket, but I look like I'm grimacing, so I had Stefanie take another ;).

Sunday was church. I can't believe that my time here is winding down so quickly! I have something like 3 Sundays left... It's just plain crazy! After church, I read a little bit of The Screwtape Letters, and then took a very long nap. It stormed during my nap, so that was lovely. It's always nice to sleep during a storm. Stefanie invited several people over for dinner, so I joined them, and we ended up playing a game called Mafia. Kind of like Murder in the Dark, which is a game I played when I was a kid. I had forgotten all about that game! Anyway, it was fun. Poor Stefanie, I learned that she would not be good at playing Malarky. She can't keep a straight face when she's lying. Speaking of games we played as children.... Who out there remembers Heads Up 7-Up!? We used to play that a lot during Host Nation in elementary school (our 20 minute class on Panama and the culture and language). We also played 4 corners in there too. Anyway, then I talked to Heath, and then I went to bed. And, now I am here. Isn't it lovely? School's out!!! There is new joy in T-Town :). At least there is for the Nilla :)!!

And oh yeah! Great news: NKOTB is going to be at the Tacoma Dome on November 22! I'm already recruiting my sister and sister-in-law to go with me :). Now to have enough money to buy the tickets!

I Thought I Had Nothing to Say

So I am wondering how long it will take for the reality to settle in that I am through with school. I know I'm not quite through yet. But as of last night, I'm completely done with all my work in the Tuesday/Thursday class, and all I have to do is show up tomorrow night and listen! Pretty great, if you ask me :). But somehow, I don't feel any different. And honestly, I didn't feel any different when I finished my undergraduate degree. Perhaps it's because I had already been accepted to grad school, so I knew I still had more school ahead of me, I just needed to get myself moved here so I could start the program. And now I won't have any school to which to be looking forward. I wonder when that will really hit me, and I wonder what I'll do with myself when it does! Perhaps consume books more quickly... I'm still working on True Believer by Sparks. It's really good. I think it's probably my favorite Sparks book so far. Perhaps because the female character is a librarian, and we all know I have a soft spot for those librarians :). Anyway, I have to hurry and get through with that book so I can read Evanovich's newest one: Fearless Fourteen! I rarely get my hands on her newest book this early in the game. Luckily, my classmate Kelly works at the public library here -- she drives the bookmobile. So, she got dibs on the copies when they first came out, and since she doesn't have to have it back for 2 more weeks, she passed it on to me! How great is that! In other book news... While in class last night, we all had to show our IT training modules (which some of you viewed yesterday, and thank you for the feedback :)). One guy in the class showed us how to set up a shelfari account. It looked pretty darn cool to me... I have something like 4 sheets of paper (3 of them are the long legal sheets for the printer) covered front and back in book titles that I've read. Only chapter books, though. I guess I'm a book snob in that way. I like children's books, but I don't put them on the list, because I can finish them in like 10 minutes. Anyway, I have this long list of books that I started back in 2002. Yikes! I can't believe how long ago that was! Anyway, so I think I'll play around with shelfari and have a digital copy of that list. And please don't think I will be throwing away my hand-written list. It ain't happenin' :). I like my hand-written list :).

Yesterday was Annie's birthday. So today we are going to eat some dinner at Five Guys Famous Burgers and Fries. We were going to go to Mugshots, which is a local place that is very popular and everyone says you should try it. Well, I wanted to try it before I leave here. Annie and I had been planning to do so for a long time. And then we found out that they got a less-than-stellar rating in January (an 86), and it has dropped to 85 since then! So, nevermind. I mean, I realize it's a solid B if you think about school grades. But really? If Taco Bell can get a 90-something... There's no reason a local place can't. So, we're going to get burgers at Five Guys instead. I'm kind of bummed I won't have the Mugshots experience. But, I'd rather err on the side of caution, because there might be some unpleasant experiences to follow with that kind of rating :).

And seriously wasn't thinking I'd be this wordy today. In fact, I was debating just listing the stuff off. And then I started writing and wrote one of my "famous" mini-novellas :). Mea culpa.

*Julie, Tarylyn, Elka, and Kira have also guessed the movie quote!*

Sometimes You Just Need a Laugh

I love the store Big Lots. I always forget how much I love it until I go back inside and I think, "Man, why don't I come here more often?!?" Well, one reason I don't is because I'd probably spend more money than I should every time I go in the doors. The other reason is that it's in the part of town I try to avoid, because I have no reason to go there. It's always congested, and I don't usually have a reason to go any further than the campus. But last night, Virginia and I went to Hobby Lobby and Big Lots. I ended up spending $18 in Big Lots, but that's because I finally found some pajamas and also got a new bra. And, I got some Quaker oatmeal bars, because I forgot to get breakfast bars while I was at Foodmaxx. Foodmaxx had some great deals this week. I got $44 worth of stuff for $27. I was excited. So excited, in fact, that I treated myself to Taco Bell afterwards. I realize some of you might not consider Taco Bell a treat. But, hey. Sometimes it is. If I'm craving it :). So, I guess you could say I went on a mini-shopping spree yesterday. But at least everything I bought were responsible purchases!

Oh, rules for the quote-guessing game (Noel Holley from church has a guess in and said she wasn't sure how it works, so I'm telling everyone who might want to play but isn't sure how -- and Noel, if I've spelled your name wrong, please correct me! :))... If you think you know the quote, just leave your guess in the comments. I moderate comments, so I won't post any comments with movie guesses, whether right or wrong. And I try to make sure I mention in the next day's blog post who has guessed the movie quote correctly.

I dreamed I was back at the Ashford Library last night. I was the librarian again. And I couldn't remember all the specifics of some things. Like which lights to flip on at the electrical box. I had to keep going back and forth between the switches and the display that showed me which ones. I also remember feeling warm in the library, so I sent Heath to turn down the a/c (it's funny the things you remember -- like where the a/c thermostat is). I remember in the dream hearing the unit outside turn on and then make a weird noise. So, I opened the little side door, and there were houses all over the place outside and there were bombs being set off and thrown in all directions! Only they weren't particularly destructive bombs, so they never hurt anyone or any buildings. But they kept exploding. Eventually it stopped, and I remember noticing that there wasn't any damage outside, and I said, "They must not have used much gunpowder." Apparently I'm a genius even in my dreams. Hahaha... Like I even know what's in a bomb. Oh, and these were the little black round bombs that you see on cartoons and Mario Bros. Nintendo games, by the way :).

And, as promised... Here's your little laugh for the day (Click on IT training). But you'll have to have about 2 1/2 minutes of your life to dedicate to it. It's probably way worth it, though. And anyone who hasn't heard me talk in a long time, tell me if I sound Southern! I know I sound weird. Have you ever done that? Listened to yourself? I sound so strange!!! And highlights to listen for: how many times do I say, "Once you are here..." or something to that effect? Also, how many people do you know who say something as articulate as, "As you see, there are very many results." Ugh. Also, let me know if you can see my picture. My picture came up on my end, but Heath said it didn't come up for him on Friday. I need to know if I need to fix it, so if you don't mind, let me know if my picture at the bottom of the screen is up. Also, don't laugh at my lame-o website. I just had to do a simple website for class, and I think that fit the bill. And, if it goes down at any point, it's probably because I am adding to it. I have to add our final two projects to it. So, enjoy :).

*And Mrs. S, Noel, and Anna guessed the movie quote correctly!*

I Was Raised to Butcher Songs

So, I totally get antsy after about 3 hours of class. Particularly when the teacher has set a precedent of letting us out early. Technically I should be prepared for 4 hours of class on Tuesday and Thursday nights. But, since we haven't actually stayed in class that long, I have gotten used to the idea. By 8:00 last night, I was ready to go. And even though she let us go around 7:40, my group had to meet to discuss how we were going to finish up our group assignments which we have to present next Tuesday. I really do get ready to go... What can I say? I was very jittery. After leaving school, I figured Institute might still be going, so I swung by there. It didn't end up ending until 9:00, so I got about 50 minutes of Institute, which was cool.

Have you ever been singing along to a song to which you've always sung, and suddenly realized what the singer was really saying? And suddenly it all becomes quite clear to you that your lyrics don't even make sense in the song? But, since you've always sung it that way (your way), you will continue to do so, because your lyrics really do sound like they fit... even if they don't fit with the meaning... My classic example (though I'm sure there are many) is Vanilla Ice's Ice, Ice Baby. (Elka, I know you wish you had speakers right now so you could jam out to this :) -- but I also know you're going to go listen to it now :)). There's a point where, in the background, you hear the words "Beach Front Avenue... Girls are hot..." Well, now that I've lived close enough to Panama City Beach, FL, I know there is such a place as Beach Front Avenue. When I grew up in Panama, my version (ie "Detroit Avenue") made just as much sense as anything else. It had the right number of syllables and it seemed like a logical name of a street. Oh, and just FYI -- I did it to TV shows too :).

Of course, that song-butchering wasn't intentional. But, my family likes to butcher songs intentionally. My mother, for one. Brad for another. But I'm sure it started with my mom :). Of course, the ones I remember her butchering were from our cartoons, which were already rather pointless ;). So, following is my mom's butchering of songs:

My Little Pony -- lyrics were changed to "My little pony's a phony bologna."
Gummi Bears -- lyrics were changed to "Gummi bears... plopping here and there and everywhere." And, once she did it and we thought it was hilarious, we always stressed the plopping part.

So, Brad took quite fondly to this practice of altering songs. In the summer of 1995, he got on a kick of doing it, and he had almost convinced himself that you could insert the word "phone" into any song and make it fit. These are the three I can think of:

November Rain -- lyrics were changed to "everybody needs some time on the phone."
You Are Not Alone -- lyrics were changed to (you guessed it) "you are not a phone." (I didn't say he was creative...) (and yes, they played this video on MTV, and it's rather scary)
Somebody's Cryin' -- lyrics were changed to "so pleeeeeaaase return the phone you took from me."

It's been 13 years since the genius creation of these songs by Brad. I want you to know that I still hear Brad's version in my head for any of those songs when I hear them. And now you probaly will too. But, you won't have the hilarious mental picture of Brad making a big deal about singing them that way and then laughing at them because it irritated me. (Which is probably why he did it in the first place). He also butchered Tonight, Tonight by the Smashing Pumpkins, but his version was a little less than appropriate for this blog, so I won't include it. (Nothing really vulgar, just teenage boy humor).

Of course, we came by it honestly (from my mom). I don't know what Heath's excuse is for altering the words to Everclear's Santa Monica to be "I am still living with your goat." ;) But I've never forgotten that one either.

And, since I mentioned it, I will tell you about the most hilarious mess-up that I made -- at least, in my own mind. It's really great. Any of you ever seen the tv show Quantum Leap? We loved that show. We recorded the tv episodes on VHS, and I'm pretty sure my dad still has them all in the tv room at his house. We watched it so much that I had the whole intro memorized. I can still give it to you word for word (only now I know the real words :)). Okay, this would have been much more hilarious if I could've found it on youtube. Alas, they do not have it. Which is insane to me. Basically, my version went like this:

"Hair-raising that one could time travel within his own life time, Dr. Sam Beckett stepped into the quantum leap accelerator, and vanished...."

Fits, right? makes sense, right? I mean, time travel is quite a hair-raising experience -- trust me, I know ;). Okay, so that really is the way I said it for years and years. The show ended in 1993. It was sometime after I was an adult (which occurred somewhere between 1998 and 1999, depending on what state you are in), so that should tell you how long I was saying this wrong. The real words are:

"Theorizing that one could time travel within his own life time, Dr. Sam Beckett stepped into the quantum leap accelerator, and vanished..."

Ah! Well, admittedly it makes more sense that way. But, you have to admit... My version was slightly cooler.

*And Tarylyn has guessed the movie quote correctly!*

Weekend Update

I thought up that title last week... I thought it was hilarious. If you want to see where it comes from, you can click here :).

I want to say that I had lots of excellent guesses on last week's movie quote. Apparently Bill & Ted are like Wayne and Garth from Wayne's World. And I can totally see the similarities. Never made the connection before... But I had two peope guess Wayne's World, and I can see why. It totally fits ;). But, it was Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. Which, by the way, is quite a different experience to watch as an adult. And, for some reason... I had a dream about that movie because I know I saw their band (which is Wyld Stallions) spelled like this in my dream: Wyld Stallyons. I'm weird, I know.

So, in keeping with the tradition she set last weekend, my weekend teacher brought a lovely spread of food. Such a spread that nobody even left for lunch on Saturday. We all sat around eating and talking. The class is going by fast. We don't have any lecture... We all just meet in the classroom and start working in teams on our project. So the time doesn't lull. Which is wonderful! On Saturday, after class, I went to a wedding. Debbie's (one of the sisters Jeni and I visit-teach) daughter Jodi got married. It was a beautiful wedding and the reception was fabulous. I took a picture of my food for Jeni, since she couldn't be there. Which, Jeni even asked me at church yesterday how the food was at the reception. I told her I took a picture just for her :). So, here is a picture of the food:

On the small plate in the back there is a grilled chicken tender and 2 fried chicken tenders. Then there's punch that was good. It kind of reminded me of a sweettart. They also had roast beef (which I have a small piece on the big plate) and shrimp (which I didn't touch, because I don't like seafood very much). Also on the big plate are: chips and cheese dip, raw veggies with ranch, fresh fruit, crackers with spinach artichoke dip, crackers with pineapple cheese dip, chocolate-covered strawberries (I chocolated them myself with the fountain), wedding cookies (the small white balls), and Debbie's fabulous pecan mini muffins. Oh yeah, and a roll. I didn't have room for either of the cakes. Which, sitting here now, I'm slightly saddened by. But, it was sooo gooood. And the whole thing was beautiful. Greg and Debbie are really great people.


Those are pretty much the highlights of the weekend. I want you to know what I discovered, though... Oh yeah, squeaky bed neighbors moved out 2 weeks ago. Yay! I'm thinking they must have trashed the place, because whenever I'm home during the day in the work week, I hear people working up there like crazy (I think they had to lay new carpet). Anyway... So, no more squeaky springs. But, this is what I have now... and it started right around the time the squeaky people left... There is some kind of bug that lives in the bushes/trees right outside my apartment. And, the noise it makes essentially sounds the same as squeaky springs. And, unlike squeaky springs people, the insect seems tireless. It starts making the noise around 10 p.m. And all I know is that it was still going strong by 1 this morning. However, also unlike the squeaky springs people... putting the pillow over my head seems to drown that sound out.

Party On, Dudes!

This past weekend was my first weekend class. I am absolutely thrilled to report that there is good news all around! I have no papers due! I have no tests! I am getting the summer (and final) semester I hoped to get! I was really getting worried I wasn't going to like the weekend class. But, it's going to be great. We are basically just working as a team (our class only has 8 people) and doing several projects to present to both our professor and the dean of the school. Our first night in class, we walked in, and it was like a party! There were balloons, leis, and a beautiful spread. I'm talking real food like granola bars, hummus and various forms of crackers, fruit, etc. I mean, it was still snacky food, but it wasn't chips and dip or cookies. Not that there is anything wrong with chips and dip or cookies ;). But you know what I mean :). Anyway, we spent Friday night learning about our personalities -- because when working in a team, it's good to know the personalities of your teammates so that you can work better with them. I am a romantic, but I have a lot of gold in me, which is a person driven by duty and responsibility. It was interesting to go down the list of things that upset me as a blue (romantic) and see how they really do... For example, I don't like conflict. That stresses me out. So does having too much on my plate. We also went down the list for each personality type to see what things make that type of person feel important and special. For me, the top two were romantic gestures and intimate talks. We were all laughing about that (I was the only blue-type in the class, by the way), because one guy in the class who's married said, "Hila, I think I'll just wave instead of blow kisses across the room." I laughed and said, "Yeah, I'd really prefer that you didn't start sending me romantic gestures... I might feel weird." I guess you had to have been there for it to have been funny. But, it was. Anyway, she also gave us these goodie bags! And Saturday was pretty much more of the same. The food, we watched videos on conflict management, etc. It was great! I mean, yeah, I'd have preferred to be in bed sleeping... But, this isn't going to be bad at all! So, here's a picture of my goodie bag... When was the last time you got a bag that had Skittles (which I totally ate, even though I said I wouldn't after my crown fell out that time) and toys in it in a college class?
After class on Saturday, I went to Wal-Mart. I'm pretty convinced that there is never a good time to actually go to Wal-Mart. But if there is a good time, I'll go ahead and tell you that 4:30 on a Saturday afternoon is not it.... There are people everywhere! But, I got all my groceries and then I got gas (always a lovely experience), and then I headed home. I made dinner for me, myself, and I. I split a chicken breast in half (and froze the other half), pounded it flat, pan-cooked it, and then added mushrooms, bacon bits, green onions, and cheese to the top, melted the cheese and then it was done. Yum. To go with it, I had rice -- which was not cooked all the way... I'm a terrible rice-cooker! I also had some yellow squash a lady at work gave me that I wanted to use up. So, I tried frying it. Okay, I'm not a fry-cook either. I now understand what chefs mean when they say that if you don't have your oil hot enough, the battered thing will sit in the oil and just soak up the oil. I basically ate flour-oil paste on my squash. It was tolerable after I salted it. I will try again with this some other time. But seriously... Make sure the oil is hot. On the up-side, the chicken was fabulous.

Then yesterday was church. The lesson in nursery was about our senses of smell and taste. For taste, I took some salt, some sugar, and some lime juice for something sour. I let the kids decided if they wanted to try each one. I warned them about the lime juice and told them it would make them make a funny face (which I demonstrated for them). Only 3 of the kids were brave enough. One of them was Ethan. Oh, to have seen his face... Then he tried to wipe it off his tongue. So, I gave him a gummy bear to help change the taste. But he was like, "That was gross." Ethan is very articulate. I've never heard a 2 1/2 year old speak as well as he does. Anyway, it was hilarious. All but one of the older kids were willing to try salty and sweet. After church, I baked some cookies, and so did Stefanie. And then we delivered them to some people for fun.

Hand-Tagging and Being Rejected

Okay, so in class last night, we had to hand-tag. Now, the benefit I had was that I had done this before when I was in 11th grade. Who knew something I did 11 years ago would be so helpful to me??? It wasn't hard for me to remember that I have to close each tag I opened. It was easy for me to recall several of the tags. However, it was frustrating to figure out how to add a picture. I finally got it! I was so proud... It was harried, and the whole class was freaking out. Which led to chaos. Which led to my nerves becoming frazzled. I don't handle disorganization very well... It starts to aggravate me. But even the teacher was frazzled. Because she felt it was unnecessary for us to learn this, since pretty much everyone uses things like frontpage or other wysiwygs (what you see is what you get -- I learned that last night!) I do have to say I feel there is value in at least knowing what you are looking at when you see source code. Or at least understanding the concept that it looks different, even if you create it in frontpage. It's like learning another language... Anyway, it is true that I will probably create my website for the class in frontpage. Mostly because it is easier and I had quite a headache trying to figure out that image thing... (had to remember that you have to put the exact source of the image!). But, I don't think it was a waste of time to at least be exposed to hand-tagging. I realize it probably won't be useful in my field... But for some people, it is valuable knowledge. Anyway, the other thing that was a chore was doing something to our school accounts so we can actually publish our website to the server here... That was a nightmare. We didn't get it done properly, because it kept disconnecting us after 20 seconds. Anyway... Those were the joys of yesterday's class. Thankfully, the teacher brings treats to class. It helps soothe the nerves.

I have officially been rejected for the job as a Branch Manager in the Bellevue area. I just thought I would tell everyone, since I've mentioned it a couple of times. I expected it to come, so I'm not upset. I was just surprised it didn't come sooner! They took forever to go over that! But, at least I know they got my stuff :). Strangely enough... for all the things I worry over -- this job thing isn't one of them. I know I'll have what I need when I need it. So, I feel really good about things.

And since no day is complete without laughing at Bradymus... I'm totally kidding... But I do want to share that story about Brad playing with Barbie... But first I must give you some background... Because I'm a type 2 kind of person and detail is very important to me :). Okay, so growing up, I was exposed to a variety of music and culture. Including The Monkees. That's right... As in "hey hey, we're the Monkees!" My mom had several of their records. Yes, I said records. Anyway, I used to listen to the tape she made (recorded from the records) all the time. I knew all their songs by heart. Well, all the ones I liked, which was most of them. So, this song is one that I liked and knew (and okay, I'll admit, still know) by heart. So, just keep that in mind.

Okay, at some point when we were playing Barbies one time (this would be me, Christina, and Brad), we decided there was one particular Barbie who would play a teacher named Mrs. Logan. Now, Mrs. Logan was a witch teacher. (She was not based on a real-life person -- she was completely made up). Anyway, Mrs. Logan was awful! She was a dictator and mean and yelly (like my word ;)?) and everything else. And for some reason, she was usually naked... I think we figured we might as well not dress her since she wasn't going to be part of the Barbie game for long. Usually she died some horrible death early on. Is that not hilarious??? Anyway, for some reason I got some brilliant idea to have this Mrs. Logan "act out" the words to that Monkees song. I can still see in my mind her acting out, "... and then she turned around and fed me dirt!" Literally, I made the Barbie lean down and scoop up dirt from the brown rug and then "feed" it to Ken or to whomever she was feeding dirt. Okay, perhaps the story is not so funny like this. But, Brad laughed at me at the time and told me that I am an idiot. But, he laughed. And, he still remembers the days of Mrs. Logan. Who always died a horrible death when we played Barbies. Because she was such a witch. I wish I could remember some of the hilarious death senes we set up, because they were usually very comical. It would start by her falling and spraining an ankle, and then she might get run over by a car... Or she might limp onto a land-mine (who knows why that was there... perhaps that was one of the games that included Brad's G.I. Joes...) and get blown over a cliff. Maybe we really were demented children. Who knows...

My Mystery... and other Stuff

Okay, so who is JAH? I know I should know. I don't think it's Julia-Ann. But maybe it is. It will drive me insane all day. I recognize the initials. I have no idea though. I do want you to know, however, whoever you are... When you said you hope to see me in LA next time I go... My first thought was, "Who is this wacko? I've never been to Los Angeles!" And then it occurred to me that LA = lower Alabama (ie Dothan). So, JAH, you are not a wacko after all ;). Although you probably don't like me much now, since I can't figure this out. I probably shouldn't admit it. But, as I know myself quite well (I should, given the 27 years I've inhabited this body), I know this will make me crazy. And don't be mean and not tell me just to make me crazy ;). Crazy Hila is not so good.

So, I had my first class last night. Sometimes it really amazes me. I am so glad that things worked out this way. That I didn't take this required class earlier. That I put it off until now. Even though I had a slight heart attack when I thought I wasn't going to graduate, since they initially weren't offering this class this summer... I'm so glad I survived all that to get to this class. This teacher is so nice. She's so laid back. She's so realistic. And I learned something. (And it never hurts to get out of class about 50 minutes early). Even so, we were in there for over 3 hours and the time flew! The first thing we did was determine our learning style. Apparently I fall between a 2 and a 3 (I'm slightly more of a 2). 2s are by the book. We need organization. We are traditional. We don't come up with new stuff (like s'mores layouts). We stick with what works and, as one person said, "We stand on the shoulders of giants." However, we are prone to be a little dictatorial (oh my gosh! I think my dad has totally accused me of such behavior -- I had better not admit this to him). We do all the research on something before we buy (like a new car). This probably falls in line with another personality test I took once back in 2003. That one told me I was a beaver. I think it was beaver. Anyway, that kind of person likes to read instruction manuals. Doesn't that sound boring??? But, though I can't say it would be my favorite reading... When I am constructing something, I will definitely read the instructions. I don't dive in and figure I can figure it out. I'm very structured. Anyway, it was interesting.

Our final project of the night (group work) was that we had to graphically illustrate different things dealing with technology. See, we are supposed to go over these terms like "internet", LAN, WAN, CD-ROM drive, etc. Rather than lecture at us for 2 hours on those terms -- thank goodness for a woman with some sense! -- she let us break into groups and graphically illustrate these terms. I will have you know I learned what a WAN is in this manner. Please let me introduce you to our graphic representation of a WAN (yes, I took a picture... I would have taken a better one with my actual camera if she hadn't wanted us to leave them plastered on the walls!):We had to have specific things on there (like the WAN server CPU, keyboard, mouse, monitor; the Local client servers, etc...). We used a specific example so we could explain it better to the class. And check out pretty cherry-looking apple. And our pom-pom client servers. I'll have you know I made good use of what the teacher referred to as a fru-fru box.

Aren't you PROUD????

Making the Grade

So, grades are finally posted! And I got 3 A's! Woohoo! Now, if I can just pull off 2 more A's in the summer, I'll have completed my master's degree with a 4.0. But, I won't let it go to my head... I hear that graduate-level grades are highly inflated. So, my A's are probably really worth a C, but they know you can only have so many C's [they won't graduate you if you don't have a B average], so they inflate the grades ;). Haha... I don't know that for sure. But I did hear that graduate classes get grade inflation. Although, the source of that comment was the crazy teacher I had, so I'm not sure how true it is.

Totally overslept this morning. It's a bad sign. I don't need to start being late this early into the "new schedule." But I was tired. Last night I went with Emily (from church) to a baby shower for another girl from church. I actually don't know the girl who's having the baby, but I figured I'd go anyway (and yes, I took a gift -- cute little froggie onesies and wipes). Anyway, the food was good. You know that's a big deal to me ;). Other than that, I didn't do much else yesterday. I talked to my mom. I went to bed sometime after midnight -- and that's because that's when I turned off the lights.

Random comment of the day: washing dishes by hand really wreaks havoc on your hands. More specifically the hand that holds the soapy sponge and scrubs the dish. My right hand's skin is very dry. I put lotion on it last night. I need to bring lotion to work. I always notice my poor hand when I'm not in convenient vicinity to a lotion bottle. Perhaps Annie has some in her cube. I'll know she's read this when she comes back and gives me an answer :). Hahaha. Hi Annie!

Heifering Up...

Let's face it... You all know how I love food. So, it really shouldn't be a surprise to you, or to me, that I stood on the scale yesterday evening and saw that I had gained 5 pounds since the last time I weighed. It was one of those, "Oh shoot" moments when I realized I would have to scale back a little on my eating (no pun intended ;)). Actually, I shouldn't have weighed myself when I did for an accurate weight. Hahaha... I am currently wearing and fitting into a pair of my skinny pants, so it's not like I'm really a heifer. But when I stepped on the scale and saw that, I literally laughed. So, let me give you the rundown of my food consumption this weekend and you see if you can determine where I went wrong ;).

Well, you saw my splurge for my solo girlie night. Enough said about that in my last post, I do believe.

Friday I worked until 11:30 -- my last opportunity to do that. On the up-side, today I get off at 11:15. So yippee!!! I'm all about early afternoons off. But I see I'm already getting off-topic, so I'd better right myself :). So, if you keep up with my blog comments, you will see that Stefanie invited me to eat lunch with her on Friday. See, she has these meal plan things here at the University, and it's a use-it-or-lose-it kind of deal. And since Stefanie is going to BYU next year, she would be losing hers. So, she invited to treat me to lunch at Lakeside Dining. Man, it reminded me of an airport terminal in some ways, at least the airport in Tocumen (Panama), because you had to go down into the food area and you could look up and there were all glass walls where people could sit and eat and look down on you. Anyway, it was a buffet and it was awesome. I didn't even know places like that existed on campus. I think they try to hide them from me :). Okay, in spite of the fact that I said I really heifered up this weekend, I want you to know I did not make a pig of myself at this place. I didn't go back for seconds. But I did get dessert. They had delicious soft chocolate chip cookies. I mean, they were good. You can see them in the picture. (Again, I will embed multiple pictures and clicking on any one of them will take you to where you can view them all).



So, after leaving lunch (oh yeah, Stefanie also used up two more meals for us to get to-go plates. Probably we should have done this at the time we were getting our first plate, because by this time, I was packed and nothing looked good. But, in the interest of kind-of-free food, we both loaded up so we'd have extra food stocked. I admit it... I took home more cookies :). And a huge 20 oz. cup of chocolate milk. After dozing in my room and trying to sleep off my very full tummy (yeah, probably should have been out running or something), I went to Wal-Mart. But you know they say it's good to shop on a full stomach, because then you don't impulse-buy. I can attest to that. Nothing looked appetizing at Wal-Mart. However, as I cannot pass up a good deal, when I saw 2 different Ben & Jerry's flavors in the little pint containers at $1.00 each, I had to get them. And in my defense... one of them was strawberry banana frozen yogurt. (And so it really doesn't matter that the other one was peanut butter cup, because they cancel each other out :)). Just FYI -- I have not eaten any of either of them yet. No need to, as I am still working on the mint cookie frozen yogurt ;).

So, after Wal-Mart (by the way, I was highly annoyed that Wal-Mart did not have any black slip-on sandal-y type heels), I tried to find a shoe-store in my vicinity. Alas, it was not to be had. So I ran home and showered, did my hair and make-up. This is why you don't take naps when you have stuff to do... Luckily, I had 15 minutes before I needed to be at the reception thing. Yeah, I'm neurotic. I have a thing with being on time, and it usually leaves me feeling awkward. But I can't seem to help myself. But anyway, since I didn't want to be early to the thing, I ran over to Target (pronounced tar-jay) and they did have some shoes for me! Yippee! And then I was only like 5 minutes late to the reception thing. But I was still one of the first to arrive. And it was awkward. April, Courtney, and April's boyfriend Mark got there about 5:30. And finally I was able to feel more normal. So, we decided to get some food and then we wandered off by ourselves to visit. Okay, so I don't know who planned that menu. I'm sorry, but yikes. There were a few things I could/would eat, like cheese cubes. And some things I thought I would eat and then later regretted. That happened with most of the food (and there wasn't much, trust me). Okay, so the mini sandwiches were pimento cheese (very Southern for those of you who don't know). These would have been fine with me. Except that they ended up being on rye bread! Ugh! Ick! Blech! I only found that out after I took a bite!!! Ick. Yuck! I hate rye bread. It tastes like licorice! And don't argue with me. It does. And then I moved on to eat whatever spread that was with the crackers. Oh my gosh... One smell of that stuff made me think twice. I let everyone smell it. I'm not even sure what it was. I tasted it a little. And yuck! I don't know what it was. Mark ended up eating it (I'm not sure how he could) and he decided it was hummus mixed with some herb of some sort. Whatever herb it was, it was potent. And so I ate the other cracker plain, and it was stale. And then, because the woman hosting this said that someone told her you couldn't not have something sweet... She pointed th way to the cookies and candy. Gingersnaps and a small bowl of jolly ranchers. I kid you not. Ugh. You know how I love a good spread. This was definitely disappointing. What can I say? I'm a food snob. Good thing I ate such a huge lunch. So, April, Mark, Courtney and I sat around laughing and talking. Courtney was bored stiff and ready to go. April looked over at me at one point and said, "Why did only the nerdy people from the program show up?" I looked at her and said, "Do you know what this says about us?" How depressing! Anyway, be glad you weren't there. So, we managed to sneak away by about 6 and decided we needed real food. And after much deliberation, we decided on IHOP (which Courtney finally realized stands for International House of Pancakes). The IHOP part was the best part... Real food, lots of laughs.



Friday night I talked to my dad and Brad, and then I went to sleep.

On Saturday, I got up early and headed to the Temple in Birmingham. Karen met me there and afterwards, we went to the Cheesecake Factory. Delicious. I must recommend the Adam's Peanut Butter Cup Fudge Ripple. It is divine. I should probably branch out again and try something new... BUt the last 3 or 4 times I've been, I think I've gotten this one. It is soooo good. It's very rich though. I was sorry I ate the whole piece in one sitting after I was done. I rarely do that. But I didn't eat as much of the lunch as I normally do, so I thought I had room for the whole piece of cheesecake. Apparently I had room, but it wasn't a nice fit or anything. Karen and I thoroughly enjoyed our visit. It's so nice to see friends I don't get to see very often.



I drove home, got a shower. Decided I needed to come up with something cute for the nusery kids to do for their moms for Mother's Day. It also needed to be inexpensive. I mean, I can get reimbursed for anything I purchase for nursery. But that's a hassle, and it's not really about the money. I know I can find cute crafty things to do and not spend a ton of money doing it. So, I went to Hobby Lobby and looked around. I found stuff to do home-made cards and came up with a simple idea that would be different. In years past, the kids have put their hand print on a paper with the poem about handprints on the wall, etc. I wanted to do something different. So, this is what I did:



That was my example one. And you know what? I'm sending that one to my mommy. It'll be late, of course. But it's hers just the same. I started thinking yesterday as I decided to write in that card and get it ready to send to my mom about why it is we now just purchase our cards as adults. I'm not saying bought cards aren't nice. But who said that just because you could afford a bought card, that you should? I may be 27, and my thumprint might not be as cute and adorable as that of the little 2 year olds... But something tells me my mom will love this card. It has something no store-bought card has... It has a part of me in it. Again, I'm not knocking store-bought cards. I just thought about how, when we couldn't afford to buy the cards, we made do with what we had... And somehow those probably were more of us.

Anyway, I watched two movies on Saturday night. I watched The Thin Man, which was a recommendation from Tammy. I liked it. It is older and about a detective and his wife. But they are a funny couple. Very cute. Will probably borrow the others from the public library also. The other movie is from where the quote of the week comes, so I won't tell you what it was. But it was a present to myself, since it was on sale :).

And, in conclusion, I called my mom and wished her Happy Mother's Day yesterday. I also called Christina and Tarylyn and talked to my grandmother and aunt a bit. And I hope all of you mothers had a wonderful Mother's Day!

And, oh yeah... So I got a most unexpected compliment on Sunday. A girl that helps out in nursery (Celeste - she played 80s games with me once) is moving this week. Before she left at the end of the day yesterday, she said to me, "I just wanted to tell you that I think you are one of the prettiest girls in the Ward. You have a classic beauty." I thought it was a very nice thing to say. She will be greatly missed in nursery. She was such a huge help.

Footloose and Fancy....

Free.

Hilarious story: someone actually called himself "footloose and fancy." And stopped right there. And he is of the male persuasion. I always thought that was funny.

So, I am officially done with having to attend classes, at least until June. We did our poster session thing today. I also turned in my re-done literature review (hallelujah!) and also got my take-home test back from a few weeks ago. And the amazing Nilla got a 15+ out of 15. Woohoo! I think I impressed her, because she made a point to come to me and say, "You did really well on the test." At the end of it, she said, "Excellent work Hila!" in big letters. And it was peppered with positive remarks throughout the test. I'm feeling all warm inside ;). So, perhaps after all the sweat and tears, I will come out okay in there...

So, you know how in literature, there are usually motifs or themes? I wonder if our lives are sometimes like that, when there is a recurring theme or something we are supposed to learn, so it keeps popping up. If that is the case, the current theme for my life is "Learn to live in the NOW." Not only was this mentioned in General Conference a few weeks back by Elder Ballard who suggested that we should enjoy the now when he quoted author Anna Quindlen who said, "...I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less.” But it is also part of the First Presidency message for the month of April, where Pres. Monson counseled us to learn from the past, prepare for the future, and live in the present. And if that weren't enough, I also read it in this wonderful book titled Daddy-Long-Legs. Who knew there would be such wisdom couched in a cute juvenile book? Here is what "Jerusha" tells Daddy-Long-Legs in a letter: "It isn't the great big pleasures that count the most; it's making a great deal out of the little ones -- I've discovered the true secret to happiness, Daddy, and that is to live in the now. Not to be forever regretting the past, or anticipating the future; but to get the most that you can out of this very instant." And do you know I fear I am terribly guilty of anticipating the future to the point where I play out multiple scenarios in my mind daily? Do you know that I have described my time here (this past year and a half) as "limbo-like;" a time where I was just "passing through" and waiting for my life to begin again? I will say I have become better at just going and doing and living in the moment a little bit more, and without guilt (like taking spontaneous trips to Seattle, for example). But I remain fraught with concern over the future and what it holds. I must learn to let go. To do the things I know are right and allow myself to be led and trust that it will be all that my heart desires. And in the mean-time, live in the now. And perhaps I needed to see that motif, or theme, pop up multiple times in the last month in order to "get it." Hopefully now that I've recognized it, I can learn to implement it. Not a thing of ease for a person such as the Nilla who clings desperately to some false sense of control over issues she cannot control at all... Seems silly, doesn't it? And yet, that is me :). So, in my attempts at living in the NOW, my new adventure is almost sure...

I am nearly 100% positive I am going to Panama. My dad called today to inform me that he spoke with the family friends that still live in Panama. The wife said she was sure we'd be able to stay with them. Now all I have to do is buy the tickets... with my dad's credit card. Haha ;). Oh yeah, and the other way I'm going to live in the NOW? Why, I think I will purchase Trivial Pursuit 80s edition, because I found it for $10 through Amazon.com. Brand-spankin' new, at that. So, get ready to get whooped... (unless there is a ridiculous sports category).

And, because I feel I should leave you with some more great thoughts from Daddy-Long-Legs that made me laugh:
"And as for Florence, she is hopeless -- but, oh! such a little beauty. I don't suppose it matters in the least whether they are stupid or not so long as they are pretty. One can't help thinking though how their conversation will bore their husbands, unless they are fortunate enough to obtain stupid husbands. I suppose that's quite possible; the world seems to be filled with stupid men; I've met a number this summer."

It made me laugh... Probably because it's something I would at least think, even if I didn't say it out loud (but I probably would say it out loud to someone I knew would agree with me!).

*Oh yeah, and Elka also guessed the movie quote!*

No Teeth Allowed

Well I am successfully on my way to renewing my pasaporte (that's espanol, by the way). I have the application. I even have the photos. Now there's a story. So I go to the courthouse here, go through the metal detector thing -- kind of reminiscent of the airport, but it has less people. Oh, and I don't get frisked for being a "secondary female". Anyway, they look at my passport upstairs. Did you know I have an official passport? Mine is burgundy. How cool is that? I will be trading burgundy for blue, though, as I am no longer travelling on "official business" as I once was when my dad was civil service. Darn. I wonder if it's more of a hassle to get through customs with a blue one? I guess I'll find out. Anyway, so they told me to come back with the things I need. The only thing I didn't have at the time was my photo. So I went straight over to FedEx/Kinko's (they recommended this because they said sometimes CVS and Walgreens don't take them well enough and they are therefore unusable). I got my pictures in mere minutes. But check this out. The dude tells me I'm not allowed to show my teeth in my smile! Is this a lie? It doesn't matter now, as I have already complied with the ridiculous maybe-rule (it has yet to be verified, so he might have just been handing me a line). Let me just say that, compared with my new picture, Stefanie is right -- I do look like a model in the old picture. But only in comparison to the new one. It is horrible! I couldn't show my teeth in my smile! I look like a total dork! And that will plague me for the whole 10 years I have my passport! Oh well. As long as I get one, and as long as they let me into the countries into which I wish to go, I don't care. Trust me, I don't look like a threat in my photo. I look like a dweeb. So, once I had my pictures, my next step was to fill out the application. I totally could have had it done in time. But there were two things I didn't remember, and if I don't find out soon where my mom was born (what city), I won't be able to turn it in on Friday. But they told me it should take about 4 weeks. So yay. And I'm seriously hoping it only costs $100 since that's what I've been planning on. Amber said hers cost her over $200. And since she needed to get hers expedited at the end, which cost her an extra $100, she says hers cost her a total of over $300. I really don't want to pay that much.

Oh, in other trip news... I informed my dad that I have already started making a list of where I want to go. He told me, "Well, you make your list. But I have to go to Boquete to check on that land for a couple of days." So, I'm thinking I have a driver's license now. And I'm old enough to drive the rental car (ah..... the perks of being old are few and far between. And they aren't even very exciting perks. But hey -- you take what you can get.), so I'm thinking I could just drop him off and leave :). (Okay, totally kidding here -- where would I go? We'd be about 6 hours away from anything I know, since we only went to Boquete and Volcan once when I lived there, and I was all of 12 -- around the time of my last passport, in fact). So anyway, perhaps my dad will humor me and let me accomplish at least the majority of the many items on my list. Good grief, I hope this all works out. Because I am totally psyched about it now.

I went and walked again at Shelby Park with some other Strive for Fivers. Annie was there this time. There were still only 5 of us, but we enjoyed it. Fact: Women in groups of 2 or more, even if they are strangers, can always have fabulous conversation. Translation: women can talk... a lot. Fact: I am a woman. Conclusion: I can talk... a lot. I spent the evening working on shool stuff (believe it or not). I didn't get very far on the literature review re-do, but I have found a few things. Yay. Of course, I will have to pay my $6.00 library fine in order to check out anything. Yes, you read that right. The librarian has a $6.00 library fine. And here's the kicker, it was so unintentional. Okay, I checked out 5 bound periodicals in an honest attempt to find material for that lit review. I found nothing in the 2 I looked in. Oh, and the bound periodicals can only be checked out by graduate students. And then, only for 5 days apparently. I thought I had a week. So, I had looked in 2 of them, found nothing, and returned them quickly. The other 3 really enjoyed the excitement of riding around in my back seat, so I figured I'd let them have their cheap thrills. Until last Wednesday when I thought they were due. So I dropped them in the box on the way in that morning. I got to my desk and had an over-due notice in my email! They were 2 days overdue!! What?!? I hadn't even had them a week by that point! But whatever. And why don't they send an overdue notice (if it's electronic) the DAY they are due, rather than wait? I mean, I've gotten reminder emails before for books. Why not these? Anyway, so I was like, "Well, it's okay. They are already in there and I'll just owe a little bit." Well, so I get to my desk Thursday and find an email announcing my fine. $6.00. Can you believe that? Bound periodicals are $1.00 per day per periodical??? Good grief. What a rip-off. I still haven't paid it. Perhaps I will be forced to. Or perhaps I can just use the book I need to use and skim it and annotate it while in class tonight... Hmmm... Beats paying the $6.00 at the moment. I will have to eventually, of course. They won't let me graduate otherwise. I still can't believe that though. $6.00. Yeesh. Such drama. Anyway, I did finish my abstract last night for our poster session. So all my group work is now pretty much done. Yippee!

And finally... I don't really know how my mind works. It's a mystery even to me. But I was on my way to work, and I hit a red light. I was in the left-turn lane. I hoped to get a green arrow. I did not. So I said to myself, "I wonder why I never get the green arrow at this light?" And then the phrase "Follow the yellow brick road!" popped into my head. Not from The Wizard of Oz. Although I know that is where it originated. This was from this old cartoon called "The Mad Scientist." Brad used to laugh at that part. I tried to find a sample of the cartoon on youtube, but was not successful. Anyway, I'm not sure why a green arrow led to a yellow brick road in my mind. But it did. I'm so random.

I Heart Books

So I just got back from class and Annie surprised me with one of the ultimate Nilla-surprises... mac and cheese! Woohoo! So, if you are keeping score, awesome Nilla surprises include:
1. fruity pebbles
2. mint chocolate anything
3. macaroni and cheese

Isn't it interesting that they are all food?

So, I heart books. So I totally agree with my quote for the day. Currently I am reading Daddy Long Legs. I am halfway through it. I am enjoying it immensely. I like the main character's wit and her personality. The character, Jerusha, likes to read also. She talks about how she becomes the character in the book until she is finished with the book. How true! A good book sucks you in and you become that character. Those things are happening to you! I love books. I love to read. It's a good thing I'm a librarian :).

Except for the fact that I have to be in that crazy class. Ugh. One more time, one more time. That's my mantra. Our group worked together so well, which was a blessing. We are pretty much done, but I have to write up an abstract. Still haven't gotten anywhere on that lit review. And believe me, I have tried. Ugh. I just want to pass this class!

Oh, and I am going this afternoon to the courthouse to start the passport process. I seriously need to scan that passport picture from 1993. I showed Stefanie last night, and she said, "You look like a model!" I was like, "What?!?" She said, "Well, maybe I've been looking at too much Vogue." That made me laugh even harder. I guess in Vogue, the way the models look is that they have the expression that says, "This is so uncomfortable. Please hurry and take this picture." Hey Tarylyn, ask Brad if he thinks I have reached the age of reason yet :). (Renewing our passports in 1993 is when we were told that we had not yet reached the age of reason -- which is 16, by the way).

*No Drama Mama and Elka have guessed the movie quote correctly!*

Blog-Stalkers Not-So-Anonymous

Okay, so yesterday I decided while reading a blog by one of the people I blog-stalk, to make myself known to her. She was writing about blog etiquette as well as whether or not blogging is helping to make us colder relationship-wise. Anyway, I like her blog a lot, and it's one of the blogs I frequently view of people who I do not know in "real life." (Because I guess this is not real life?? I don't know -- that just fits). Anyway, so I left her a comment confessing to my blog-stalking and also offering my opinions on the blogging stuff. I checked back later and saw that Elka had also confessed to blog-stalking this same girl. This girl's blog is on my other cousin's blog roll. Anyway, so in the comment, Elka asks me a question. And when I saw that, I almost busted out laughing thinking, "Okay, so now Elka and I are having a conversation on someone else's blog!" So then I start thinking maybe I should write on the blog and apologize to my other cousin (the one who actually knows this girl) and tell her that I'm sure she's hanging her head in embarassment that she's the one who has brought the whackos out of the woodwork that are blog-stalking this poor girl. Because both Elka and I admitted that we were related to Mrs S. Poor Mrs. S... We are such an embarassment! So then Elka called me at lunchtime yesterday, and since I could see it was her number, I answered by saying, "Hello stalker." To which she promptly busted out laughing. When I told her that I thought about writing that apology to Mrs S, she laughed and said, "Yeah, Mrs S is the normal one who hides the rest of us weirdos." Anyway, that was so funny to me. I so wish I had the clip -- oh man, you can find everything on youtube... Go here. And play it to about 7 minutes and 40 seconds into the clip to the end (sorry, embedding is turned off). Anyway, so just do that mental voice in your head when I say that this is the "Blog-stalker speaking." Okay, that's only funny in my mind I guess. But still, watch the clip. That has to be the BEST thing ever... Coincidentally, I have a copy of it on DVD (only I transferred it from Betamax, so it has tracking lines and is not as high quality as the one on youtube). But, if any of you want a copy of that one and the Christmas one, let me know. Brad and Christina and Ben: you guys are already getting one :).

I gave my 3 booktalks in class last night. It went really well. I have a busy day ahead of me... Work until 11:30, then go by the bank, pay the electric bill, then go to Friday Forum. Then run to the grocery store since WinnDixie is having some good sales! Then drive to B'ham while stopping along the way to pick up a birthday surprise! And then it's off to tons of fun at a girlie night with April and Courtney -- not to mention some indecent exposure (not by us, I assure you) tomorrow :). I have a jam-packed weekend! I swear, sometimes in my life it's like feast or famine! This weekend is full feast of friendship and fun! I think I like the letter "f." I think you will find that to be the case on Monday as well :). You know, SCN (the Southern Command Network, which was the only English channel we got in Panama until we got cable tv) used to have a thing on every Friday afternoon where they would film all these people on the military bases and such, and everyone would call out, "Have a nice weekend!" Unfortunately I can't find that on youtube. Makes me want to screen all of my family's betamax tapes to see if we somehow might have taped it once... Goodness knows we have a lot of them, and we have a lot of stuff on them! But regardless, you can just picture me saying, "HAVE A NICE WEEKEND!"

Oh, P.S... I have to add this little addendum... I was blog-stalking the girl I mentioned above again. And Mrs S had left a comment in which she claimed me as her cousin. Then she left another comment referring to what I wrote. And then she left this comment:

"Holy cow. I didn't realize my sister commented too... This is kind of embarassing..."

And I literally laughed... The kind of laugh that would have resulted in juice coming out of my nose if I'd have been drinking any. I'll say it again... Sorry Mrs. S for being such an embarassment! We really do love you!

More Pictures!

So, I finally caught my sister online yesterday afternoon. And I finally twisted her arm to get her to send me the pictures she had on her camera from when I was up there visiting. I can't believe that was already a month and a half ago just about... Time sure does go by fast. Anyway, if you click the picture, you can go see all the pictures Christina sent, and those include some birthday pictures from Benjamin and Desiree's party, as well as a few other pictures of Desiree.

I have to say that I have really been living a boring life lately! I have no news to report! I checked out a few periodicals to attempt to do my literature review... I'm having little to no success with that thing. I'm half tempted to just take the zero and be content with it. Other than that, I went home and spent the afternoon and evening reading for my Adult Services class. I'm really enjoying the book I am reading right now (The Patient by Michael Palmer, in case you forgot). I plan to have it finished by this weekend, and then I'll have all of those books read! Yay! I was successful in washing all of my clothes, as well as the shower curtain. And, I'm just going to tell you: the supposed 37 minutes that exist between 6:20 a.m. and 6:57 a.m. is not really 37 minutes. At most, it's about 10. Just thought you would like to know that. I've discovered the conspiracy :).

Oh, coincidentally, how about if I tell you another "How to be a Nilla" lesson? I guess this would be something like 105, maybe? So, I have found the perfect way to regulate temperature at night. Have you ever noticed that you can be too hot if you're all covered up, but then you throw off the cover and, after a couple of minutes, you're too cold?!? What's the solution? Well, I'll tell you. Stick one foot out of the cover. (I want you to know that, if I hadn't re-read this after posting it, you would be reading "stick food out of the cover" right now... I don't really know too many people who take food to bed with them on a regular basis. Although, perhaps if you stuck the food out of the cover that you are taking to bed, you wouldn't eat it, you would get thinner, and then you wouldn't be hot... Hmmm...). If you are still a little on the toasty side, extend your leg further until more of it is out of the cover. Eventually you will find the perfect amount of leg outside the cover to regulate your temperature and make you comfortable. And you have a 100% Nilla satisfaction guarantee on that one. I should patent that idea ;). (I'm so kidding... But in a world where certain phrases can be patented -- why not this? :)). --Okay, actually the proper word is copyrighted.

*And Virginia has guessed the movie quote correctly!*

Oh, and one more thing -- I remembered, because my tongue hurts on the side. I think I try to talk in my sleep. And by that, I mean that I think I move my jaw as though I am talking (rumor has it that I open my mouth and make like "chewing" sounds in my sleep too -- I think perhaps it was this talking thing). Anyway, apparently I was "talking" along with my dream last night -- something to do with Japan and an airplane -- and I bit my tongue -- HARD. It woke me up. I had forgotten until just now.

A Friendly Surprise!

So I have decided that I have some of the greatest friends and that I have been blessed with some of the greatest people in my life. Have I said that before? Yes. Because it is true. And I always stand in awe of that blessing in my life.

So yesterday, I got home from work -- and there was a ton of traffic for some reason, and I was rather annoyed by the time I got to the apartment. I got to my bedroom and there was a grocery bag hanging on my doorknob. I thought, "What did Stefanie do?" So I grab the bag, and the first thing I see is this huge box -- a box of Fruity Pebbles. So by this point I'm smiling, because we all know that my favorite cereal of all time is Fruity Pebbles (and I don't buy them for myself right now because they are expensive). Also in the bag were 2 smaller boxes of mint chocolate pudding. And I know we all know how I love mint and chocolate together :). And then I found the little note from Jeni. Oh how sweet and thoughtful Jeni is. Thank you Jeni for being such an amazing friend. Just getting them were little pick-me-ups, and I'm sure eating them will produce the same result. (We don't have much milk, so I didn't end up eating any of either last night. But be assured they will be enjoyed in the near future :)).And oh how I love Institute. I look forward to Tuesdays, because I know Tuesday night will be Institute. Last night we discussed some of Conference. We discussed some things way back in Deuteronomy and Leviticus about rules (if you will) of promised lands -- namely that if you don't worship God, you will be wiped off of it. We discussed Joel, Amos, and Hosea. Who knew there would be such a huge insight awaiting me and my life in Hosea? Hmm... The scriptures really do hold all the answers -- we just have to be able to see them. And I don't know about you, but that makes me want to read them and ponder them and study them even more.

After Institute, April and I gabbed for a long time about school and, more specifically, the hideousness that is our take-home test (which I will be completing within the next 4 hours). Good thing April was on the phone with me when she checked her email so that I knew last night instead of this morning -- class today was cancelled. So that means I get to use all of the 3 hour class block of time to finish up the test. Yeah, I got a book last time, but I don't know what to expect this time. She will probably grade harder on these, since we had a week to do them. My life doens't tend to be particularly conducive to school work at home (Is that called homework???). It seems I'm never home to do it... But anyway... eventually April and I directed our topic into much more interesting subjects. Like our girlie night on Friday. Woohoo! I have convinced her to make those oatmeal chocolate chip cookies that were soooo delicious that she made in January. Yay!

So, that's it for me... Signing off.

*Tarylyn and Brad have guessed the movie quote correctly. And Brad's a dork :). *

If My Life Was a Soundtrack

So, here’s how it works:
1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc.)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that’s playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the "next" button
6. Don’t lie and try to pretend you’re cool!

Opening credits: Somewhere Over the Rainbow -- Iz
Waking Up: Have a Little Faith in Me -- John Hiatt
First Day At School: You're My Soul and Inspiration -- The Righteous Brothers
Falling In Love: Tonight, Tonight -- Smashing Pumpkins
Fight Song: The Mary Tyler Moore Theme
Breaking Up: The World I Know -- Collective Soul
Prom: Jessie's Girl -- Rick Springfield
Life’s OK: Take on Me -- A-ha!

Mental Breakdown: Everybody Hurts -- REM
Driving: U Can't Touch This -- MC Hammer (I can totally sing to this while driving ;))
Flashback: Sweet Caroline -- Neil Diamond
Getting Back Together: Don't Stop Believin' -- Journey
Wedding: I'm Henry VIII -- Herman's Hermits (okay, this is hilarious! -- I need 8 Henrys to start lining up and I'll marry you in quick succession)
Birth of Child: Hey Jude -- the Beattles
Final Battle: Better Man -- Pearl Jam
Death Scene: The Sound of Silence -- Simon and Garfunkel
Funeral Song: Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds -- the Beattles
End Credits: Secret Garden -- Rick Springsteen

I Tag: Anyone who wants to do this!

Okay, I saw this while blog-stalking one day. And then a few days later, Elka emailed it to me. Hers was much funnier than mine. Except the Henry VIII thing. That's just hilarious. Hila and Henry -- awww. How sweet. Hila and Henry the 8th... Not so sweet anymore ;). Hahahaha...

Okay, so my life has not been exciting lately. I had class last night (we got to watch a 5 year old video on how computers are made at the Gateway plant). Then I went home and took a shower and enjoyed reading The Patient by Michael Palmer. That is book 5 of the medical horror genre! Woohoo! There is an end in sight! I think I have only about 3 or so weeks left of the semester! Time really does start to fly!

Oh, and please allow me to point out that I do believe the dinner-people are going to win!! Woohoo! Although, I have to agree with Elka when she said that, if we call them breakfast, lunch, dinner, and supper (since some places call a snack supper), then we have a good excuse to eat more food. Because saying "Oh, I'm eating supper" sound a whole lot better than saying, "Oh, I'm eating my 3rd snack of the day..." Hahaha!!! Rationalization is a great thing :). So, everybody dish up and let's eat!

Man! I forgot to mention that both the Little E Family and Stacy have guessed the movie quote!