A Quick Note

Well, I was going to head home today, but decided not to. So, I'm still in Dothan. But I have to get on the road tomorrow, because I have to go to work on Wednesday (at 7 a.m. - YUCK). So, expect a fun and zany post about my last few days on Wednesday. And yes, that is when I'll include pictures of me and Julie and Alysha with the Blues Brothers. Hey, I have to give you a reason to come back, right? So that's why I post stuff like this :).

Visiting the 'Bean

Haha... Yeah, so I drove down to Julie's on Wednesday. I got here around 2:00 EST. I have decided that my time limit in a car is 4 hours. At least when I'm by myself. Otherwise it's just too long!!! Of course, I already showed you the pictures of Julie and Alysha opening their presents from me. Well, here's what happened: I was desperately trying to find something for Julie's birthday. Alysha sent me to Carlton Cards looking for a specific thing (a tea pot type thing). Well, wouldn't you know it? Carlton Cards in Dothan was sold out! But I found 2 other perfect gifts! Well, Julie had previously told me that she had found the perfect Christmas present for me. That she was so excited about it. And it wasn't until after I got home to my dad's that it ocurred to me that we might have found each other the very same perfect gift!!! And, wouldn't you know it... We did! But I think it's really neat anyway. Because now we both have one. So here we are with our "friendly" pea pods (Julie and I have always referred to ourselves as the pea friends).

So there we are with our pea pods. I also got Julie one of these:

Of course, I also got one for myself so that we could each have one. You know... To go along with the s'mores story. I thought it was perfect. And this was my final present for her. This was a lot of fun to make. And if you look closely, you can see Julie and Hila through the years... Oh, and we're going to put our pea picture inside the frame.

Okay, so now fo some funny stories. So, on Wednesday, I went with Julie and Alysha to Alysha's gymnastics class. At first, we just dropped Alysha off so we could run to WinnDixie to pick up ingredients for the enchiladas Julie was making for dinner. So there are me and Julie, standing in front of tortillas on the Mexican aisle, pondering which tortillas would be correct (8-inch versus 10-inch tortillas). So this guy walks down the aisle and I noticed his shirt had a nametag, so I figured he worked there. He says, "Are you ladies finding everything okay?" Julie answers, "Yes, thank you." I kind of smile and go back to what I was doing (which was pondering the tortillas). And once the guy is far enough away, Julie starts laughing. I said, "What?" And she shakes her head and keeps on laughing. I say, "Why are you laughing?" And she says (as she laughs), "Well, he wasn't talking to me!" So Julie just keeps on laughing about this, saying, "He was staring you down" and "the fat pregnant woman got completely ignored" for the rest of our WinnDixie trip. And then she tells Jon about it yesterday morning. Only by now, she has decided to share with Jon that this guy's name was Tom, he is a manager of the WinnDixie, and that he was pretty cute. I don't know where I was, because I certainly didn't get that much information from our little exchange. And I was seriously oblivious to this Tom's stares in my direction. Haha... I had a mission: to figure out the tortilla situation. Apparently nothing else really mattered.

We came home after Alysha's gymnastics and we ate dinner, watched "Friends" episodes and ate enchiladas. Then we all played Catch Phrase Jr and that was very fun! Okay, at one point, Julie and I were on a team and I was trying to get her to say the phrase "can of corn". So I started with "blank on the cob" and she got "corn" pretty quickly. So then I'm like, "Okay, what does it come in at the grocery store? And she's like "a bag" and I'm like, "what else?" And she's not getting it. So I'm like, "it's on the shelf. It's round." And she goes "TUBE!! Tube of corn!" Needless to say, time ran out before she got can. Ah Julie... Tube of corn. Oh, and I think somewhere in there she was guessing "bottle." Which she could NOT guess later when Jon wanted her to guess bottle. He had to make her say "bottle opener" and so he got her back to "can opener" and then said, "but what is it if it's made of glass?" And she goes, "A glass can opener?" Priceless... And we ate some ice cream, which Julie and I had bought at WinnDixie. I had some of each flavor: Loaded Cookies and Cream and Loaded Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup. Yum. We stayed up until about midnight just having a grand old time :). Alysha was my bed buddy. And the cat. Which only licked itself when it was sitting by my head. So I had to keep moving him down by my feet, because that was annoying.

I woke up first on Thursday, so I blogged while everyone else slept. Trying to play catch-up and all of that :). Once we got ready to go (which we didn't feel particularly rushed to do... We finally were all dressed and ready at about 1:00), we headed into town. We stopped to eat at 5 Guys Famous Burgers and Fries. Those were some delicious hamburgers! So here we all are (sorry the sun was in the way and so we are kinda dark!). Oh and the second picture is of me and Jon outside with the sign.



Once we were done eating, we went into Ocala and went to PetSmart, Barnes & Noble and Coldstone Creamery (in Jon's HUGE truck). Julie had a bunch of coupons for free ice cream, so really... can you say no to that??? I got the flavor called "All Lovin' no Oven". Oh my goodness... Now that was heavenly. Cake batter ice cream (can you go wrong with this? NOOOO!!!) with fudge, whipped cream, and cookie dough. Delicious. Alysha made her own and got cake batter with oreos, fudge, and brownie. She said hers was a mite bit too chocolatey with all that brownie.
We got back home and just lounged around (trying to digest all that bad-for-you-food we'd just consumed). We watched "Home Alone" and some episodes of "Scrubs" and then we played Taboo Jr. That was fun too!!! And once again, we stayed up until midnight. And today's a big day. We're going to take pictures with the Blues Brothers. So be looking ahead to that :).

P.S. All pics (except the s'mores one) in this post are clickable!!! Yay!

Catching Up

Okay, it's hard to keep up with blogging when you don't have easy access to Internet! So let me catch you up on the last few days. Okay, let me say this first: I have learned that, when I post blogs in Internet Explorer, my pictures are not "clickable". I do not understand why. So at work, I post in Firefox, but I don't think Jon and Julie have that on their laptop, which is what I am currently using, so I am sorry for the small and unclickable pictures. Hope you can enjoy them anyway...

So, on Saturday, after leaving the library and all the fun had there with Kristin, I went to the mall to buy Julie's Christmas and birthday presents. I was horrified to see the parking situation at the mall. Yikes. Somehow, miraculously, I found a parking space immediately. Yipee. So I ran in and got two of the "perfect gifts" for Julie. I will post pictures of them later, because there is a great story... Anyway, then I went over to my friend Anne's house. I hadn't seen Anne in about 7 months. Her house is so warm and inviting. I love her house. It was a great visit, and I'm hoping to visit with her a bit more before returning to Tuscaloosa, so we can get a picture. Anne wasn't feeling well that night, so she wasn't feeling in the picture mood. Then I spent the rest of the night with my dad watching TV.

On Sunday, I went to church. It's always great to see everyone. One of my high school friends was back visiting her parents, and we were able to exchange email addresses and blog addresses! My blog list is growing! Yay!! So, that was Lindsey. She has two very cute little girls now. My how the time flies... I also got my friend Kira's blog address (see, I told you the blog list was growing :))... Kira also has 2 little ones with a 3rd on the way. Sunday after church, I went and hung out at my friend Karen's house. I love visiting with Karen. We have fun. Then I swung back by the library to guilt Miss Hilda into taking a picture with me. I was successful :). And you get the added bonus of seeing the slipping room at HLML and it's lovely 70's green shelves. I LOVE Miss Hilda. Anyway, after helping close down the library, I went home and watched TV until my dad got home from work. Then we watched Field of Dreams and then we went to sleep.

On Monday, which was Christmas Eve, I slept until I felt good and ready to get up. That's right, I enjoy my vacations by sleeping in :). My dad and I went to the post office to pick up the package from my mom, and then we went to the grocery store to pick up some things for Christmas dinner. We returned to the house and I started transferring more Betamax stuff to DVD (you know, the family home videos). Man, those things crack me up! I was a bossy child. It's great stuff. We ended up being invited to my dad's cousins for Christmas dinner. So we decided to do our Christmas early, because it was a 2 hour drive to my Aunt Janie's house. This is what my dad got me for Christmas:

My sweet dad. He said it's because this is my last Christmas with him. I know it breaks his heart. It's so sad. I looked at him and said, "Dad, I know it's hard, but I have to go to Washington. That's where I'm supposed to go." And he looked at me and said, "I know you do, hon." It's wonderful to know that he understands and knows that Washington is where I need to be going, for whatever reason. Anyway, this is a nifty CD player. It even has a remote control. He also got me a butterfly thing to "remind me of Panama." My mom got me the 4th book in one of the series I've been reading. I'm excited about reading it. My grandparents got me an ornament (this is a tradition) and a snowman goblet which is absolutely darling.

Christmas Day, we got up early and started driving to Georgia. It took a little over 2 hours and we got to see lots of family. It's just nice and cozy-feeling to be with family. And, of course, we ate a lot. But it was good to see Aunt Mary Jane, Aunt Sandra, Great-Aunt Rosita and everyone else. Pretty much the same people who were there for Thanksgiving. Just so you can refer back to that picture if you want to, because I never took any pictures there this trip.

On Wednesday, I got up early once again to get on the road to Julie's. And I arrived safely and am currently hogging up Jon's laptop to do this post. So, I will leave the fun pictures for my next post, because we have to take a picture with our mutual presents :). Oh, well, let me just put in a couple more pictures here. Julie and Alysha opening their presents and then one of me and Alysha. But the stories will come later, deal?

The Adventures of Hila, Kristin, and Rainbow Brite

Yeah, that's right. I said Rainbow Brite. So, after our delicious (and nutritious) breakfast of Coke, oreo truffles, and chocolate chip cookies, Kristin and I went to Applebee's for lunch. We decided to take Rainbow Brite along for the trip, to introduce her to the wonders that await her in Dothan. Needless to say, we drew some attention at Applebee's while we laughed about taking pictures with Rainbow. One guy watched us the whole time and laughed right along with us. But, here is Rainbow Brite eating a french fry:And here she is with both me and Kristin and our food :).Once we were done eating, we decided that it would be great fun to take Rainbow Brite to one of Dothan's most famous landmarks (unless you ask Julie, who, it turns out, had never heard of it before, much less seen it): the GOLDEN PEANUT!!! But we wanted to stop by and take a picture by the Elvis Peanut. Okay, I am thinking you probably need an explanation. Dothan is the peanut capital of the world. Yes, yes, that is Dothan's claim to fame. The peanut. That and, at least at one point, it was a Trivial Pursuit answer, because Dothan has (or at least had) the most fast-food restaurants per capita in the whole United States. But anyway... Back to the peanuts. So, a couple years ago, Dothan wanted to do "Peanuts around Dothan" where different businesses could decorate a peanut and put it out front of their stores. Someone did an Elvis Peanut. So we wanted to find the Elvis Peanut and take a picture there. Alas, it was no longer where it used to be. So, we gave up and went to the Golden Peanut. And here we go...
So Kristin decided she wanted to go inside the Dothan Welcome Center to look around, since she never had. So we did. And lo and behold, what's in the corner??? The Elvis Peanut!! Turns out people kept stealing him, so they had to put him inside the visitors' center. This thing is hilarious. I don't know if the picture will give the detail, but it even has chest hair. Hahahaha!!! Talk about trying to be authentic :).
Now, it cannot be forgotten that this happened while Kristin and I were inside: Kristin had parked very badly outside, because we figured, "who's going to go to the Dothan Visitors' Center on such an overcast day, 3 days before Christmas, at lunch time?" So she just backed into a spot when we were done taking the gold peanut picture, and it wasn't a great parking job. Well, right when we were getting ready to leave, some old guy comes in and says to the lady working there, "First of all, do you know who's car that is out there?" And so Kristin and I 'fess up and say it's ours. You could see the hesitation in his face, but he went ahead anyway and said "Well, you all need to learn how to park." Well, he said, "paughk" which tipped me off that he was from the Northeast. Haha... Anyway, the lady that works there was like, "Well, sir, maybe you have more experience than they do." And he said, "Well, that doesn't matter." Haha... Kristin and I left snickering. Grouchy. And the saddest part is that there were like 5 EMPTY spots, but he just HAD to have the one closest to the door, which is the one Kristin was slightly parked in. Haha!!!

Okay, so after these adventures, it was time for Kristin to return to work. So we went back to the library, but we didn't exactly WORK :). Kristin and I had a few more things to show Rainbow. For one thing, we had to show her the indian outside of the library. On the way there, she (Rainbow Brite) accidentally fell, but was luckily caught by a tree... Okay, so if the truth be known... Kristin threw her in there. But it was funny. And here we are posing with the indian:And because we can't have Rainbow Brite not learning about the vast possibilities of a library, we HAD to take her aboard the bookmobile (which we let her take a spin around the block in):

Needless to say, Kristin and I had a BLAST!!!! People kept telling us we were nuts, but seriously... sometimes you just have to have a little fun :). And we certainly did!

Oh, and this is where we put the bad library patrons at HLML (and the staff of the library are free to define "bad" according to the day and according to their own moods):

So let that be a warning to anyone who might be a wannabe-bad-library patron.

Okay, So I Lied

It just so happens that Kristin is at work today, so I came to the library and am using her computer :). And Internet. So now I can write a short post. Nothing very exciting, but something to hopefully appease those people who might feel deprived at having nothing to read (yeah, I'm sure this description fits tons of people.... haha).

Well, obviously I made it to Dothan without incident. I am amazed at the traffic I found upon entering Dothan City Limits. Seriously more traffic than I ever remember. Maybe it's just the crazy Christmas shoppers and all the new shops up that way.

Today, Kristin and I are going to go to lunch. For breakfast, we are having Coke, chocolate chip cookies, and oreo truffles. Yeah, we're grown-ups, so we can do that kind of stupid thing :). Oh, and my dad helped me out immensely by eating up the peanut butter cookies I brought home. Little by little, the sweets will be eaten, and not soley by me!!!

Oh! And in other good news... I am a blog-recruiter! My sister Christina and my friend Kristin have made blogs now! Coincidentally, they both picked the same template. Too funny :). But I'm excited to have new blogs to add to my list and to look at each day :). Yay! I love my sister... she really is good at tolerating me :). I basically FORCED her to make a blog :). But she did it :).

Well, I'm sure I'll have more to add on Wednesday after I'm at Julie's.

On Being VaNILLA

Okay, so I've been having a bit of a crisis... I'm fighting a losing battle... This time of year brings out all the goodies. Remember the lovely cookies I baked for the Relief Society cookie swap? Well, swap implies that I got some in return, right? So, I had a plate of cookies. Then my Visiting Teacher gave me a bag full of peanut butter cookies. And then Sunday, I got an appreciation gift from Primary (for being in the nursery) and that was big pretzels dipped in chocolate and covered in crushed up peppermints. Oh, and I still had leftover chocolate-covered pretzels from the NE trip. Also, remember, someone secretly dropped off a plate of goodies for Stefanie and me, and we still had those left. And remember that I kept some of the cookies that I made that didn't turn out as well. And then I bought eggnogg, because it's good. And then April and Courtney gave me a mug filled with chocolate candy. Well, in preparation for leaving today for Dothan, I have been making a concerted effort to eat up the things that will go bad or stale and therefore can't be left behind. Stefanie is already gone for the break, so I have been left to the task of eating everything by myself. Turns out this is an insurmountable task! I have not actually eaten real food for dinner this entire week! I have been eating Lay's kettle cooked chips (for something salty), drinking a glass of eggnog, and eating something loaded with sugar. Good grief. And I will have you know I still have eggnog in the fridge and the food keeps growing!!! For example, Jeni and I went Visiting Teaching last night. We made these:And what are they? They are Oreo Truffles. Oh my. They are sooooo good. And I will include the recipe right now, that way I don't have to actually describe to you how sweet they are. You will understand. And also this way, you can have a recipe:

Oreo Truffles:
1 pkg oreos, crushed up
1 pkg cream cheese
1.5 pounds white chocolate, melted
5 oz. dark or milk chocolate, melted

In a mixer, mix together the cream cheese and crushed up oreos until well blended. Form into small balls and place on cookie sheet. Freeze 10-15 minutes. Dunk balls in white chocolate until covered. Drizzle all of the truffles with dark/milk chocolate. Freeze or refrigerate until hard.

I described these to Julie last night and she said, "Oh my gosh... That could make your teeth fall out!" I concur. So you know Jeni and I had to have some for ourselves, so we split the ones in the picture above and kept them for us. No, I have not eaten them all. But now I have that to add to my sweets. And then, one of the sisters we visit, Debbie. Well, she's so sweet. She got us a present too! She gave us each a big snowman mug with hot chocolate and also she's made these little pecan muffins. And those were so good!!! I need to get the recipe from Jeni, since she wrote it down. But oh, they were fabulous. The one ingredient amount that I remember: 1 box of dark brown sugar. The entire box. I laughed when I heard that. I couldn't stop myself. The entire box of brown sugar. Whew... SWEET!!! But seriously, so good. So anyway, my crisis has not been averted. My stomach can no longer hold large volumes of food at any given time (which is a good thing). And so I have given up and am taking a lot of stuff with me to my dad's. Really... The sweets just seem to multiply at this time of year!!! And then, next week, when I'm at Julie's, we're doing an appetizer night with sweets and stuff too. So... But that's next week :).

Okay, so I really have such wonderful friends. I know that my friends are among my greatest blessings. Jeni was my first real friend here. And she really made me feel like I had a place here. I just know that she was placed in my life by a loving Heavenly Father who knew I needed a friend and who knew Jeni and I would 'hit it off'. Jeni says she feels like I'm a blessing to her too. I don't know how. I don't feel like I've really ever done anything for her. But I know that the way she helped me is something I can never repay. She's just an awesome friend. So, I got a picture of us last night.
Okay, so maybe I don't like Jeni so much... Haha. I'm totally kidding. But I will have you know that I put on make-up and stuff trying to look presentable for this picture. Then I tell Jeni that I brought my camera so we could have a picture of the two of us and she goes, "Oh great. I look a mess!" And then she pulls down her hair and we take this picture. Okay, so of the two of us, which one really looks a mess??? ME!!! Jeni is just one of those people who always looks great and put together. I don't even look good when I make an effort! Anyway, I still like this picture, even though I don't look that great. I don't like the picture of ME, but I like the picture in general. I like pictures with friends. Oh, and we got her husband David to take the picture. Jeni says, "Here, let's take it in front of the Christmas tree!" So David kept moving around to take the picture and then makes the comment, "I can't see the tree..." and then he moves to another spot and adds "...at all." Hahaha.... And Jeni says, "Are you trying to say something?" Yeah, my thoughts exactly. All those sweets aren't helping me any apparently.

And finally, let me explain what it is to be a Nilla. I am doing this for Julie's benefit, because she kind of requested it. But also because, it turns out, Jeni is a fru-fru friend too :). I told Jeni this last night, so she already knows that I'm calling her this. And Julie knows I call her it too. There's nothing wrong with this (their fru-fruness) because they are able to make their homes so nice and warm and inviting. I stink at that. And that is because I'm very functional. I have an eye for functionality. Okay, let me give a little background about how this came up: So Jeni and I exchanged Christmas presents last night. She got me some mint chocolate creme Andes mints (yes, I know, more sweets, but these, like the rest of the chocolates from April and Courtney, are not going to perish before the holidays, so they can wait for my return) and some Sweet Pea bubble bath from Bath & Body Works. Jeni says, "I don't know if you like bubble baths, but I do." Well, confession: since I've been a kid I haven't taken many bubble baths. I always picture it as being something that would be nice to do. Relaxing. But then I never do it. I think I might have taken a total of 4 as an adult. Only one in the last 2 years. So Jeni told me that, for her, there is nothing a good bubble bath won't cure. And so she was helping me with the art of pampering myself. Which is something Julie would say. So this is when I told Jeni that she is another one of my fru-fru friends. And then I had to explain about Julie. And then I had to explain about my toothbrush holder, for example's sake. And so now, I will share it with you:Julie made fun of me when I told her I bought this. I see nothing wrong with it. All I needed was a toothbrush holder. This fit the bill and it was cheap. What else do you need? Julie can't get over the fact that it's clear. When she was here visiting (she only told me this the other night), she said she saw "that stupid thing" and thought again, "I can't believe she got a clear one." And even Jeni said, last night when I told her this story, "Yeah, I'd have had to go with a colored one." So, there you go, that's lesson number 2 from Nilla Life 101. (Lesson 1 was the way you should make a s'more, in case you forgot). Okay Julie and Jeni... You can stop laughing now :).

And MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone! I will be without Internet until at least next Wednesday. Maybe Julie will let me post from her house :).

A Little Birdie Told Me...

...that today is someone's birthday!!! This person's favorite color is purple. She used to work at a library, which is where I met her. And she and I are challenged when it comes to finding Little Debbie cakes in the grocery store that used to be called Bruno's. She's the mom of one (and a half) girls :). She's seen a "trailer hotel" and she knows what "sockey players" are. She was once given the nickname Chunk (but only for a small moment in time) and has also been known to go by other aliases such as Juliebean and, more recently, Pregnant Princess. That's right... She's my best friend, and she's another year older :). (Julie, you go first!). Oh, and just a random example of my freakish memory (for your benefit, Julie): I officially met you 9 years ago tonight. Yes, that's right. It was my first night working in the Children's Room, you were up at the library for some reason, and you were turning 20. (How depressing, because that means I was 18). And I told you happy birthday, and politely turned down your offer for one of those Ferrero Rocher chocolates that you love and that someone gave you... What can I say? I was quiet and shy back then, and I was afraid you wouldn't like me :). Hahaha... If only we knew the fun that was to be had... Anyway, HAPPY BIRTHDAY JULIEBEAN!!!

I love getting off work early. Just thought I'd share that :).

And, amazingly, I have nothing fun to report. Actually, that's not all that amazing. It's very vaNILLA of me. Which is what I claimed to be the truth when I first started this blog: that my life is not prone to exciting events. And yet, somehow, I have managed to do an awful lot of fun stuff since September :). And even if it wasn't fun or interesting, I somehow mananged to make novel-length blog posts about nothing! So, why not try that again!?! While I was in Dothan for Thanksgiving, I pilfered through my parents' photo albums to find some pictures. I found some great ones. So maybe I should share a few :).

First of all, Brad and I were totally kids of the 80s. Check out this picture:
I want you to notice that Brad is holding a Smurf and I am holding a Monchichi. I loved that stupid doll. I think it was a monkey. I can remember wanting one so badly. Turns out that they made a comeback sometime around 2006. I know, because I bought myself one. It is currently packed in a box somewhere and will not be unpacked until I move to Washington. Otherwise I would have taken a current picture of me with my Monchichi. But anyway, the 80s were such a great decade.

And now for some comparisons... Check out this picture, circa 1990. Okay, it is hilarious for so many reasons. I don't think a single one of us has a decent look on our faces. I look very chubby in that picture. And notice how stiff I look. I look like I'm standing at attention!!! And Brad... I don't know what his facial expression says. But it's funny. And he looks like he's slouching. And look how short he is!!! Just barely taller than Christina, who was 3 years younger than he was (and, because it works this way, she still is 3 years younger :)). I guess he had not hit his growth spurt yet! And Christina... Ah, my sweet Christina. Can you tell she was a stinker ;)? Look at that "smile". Anyway, one year for Christmas, we each got one of these shirts. We used them as pajamas. We always thought it was hilarious that the sloth's scientific name was Bradypus (because it has Brad's name in it). I think this is how Brad eventually came to be called Bradymus. I think I geniusly changed the "p" to an "m". I still call him that from time to time, and his 6 year old daughter Saria thinks it is quite funny. One time she called him that... Yeah, kids listen more than you think...

Luckily for Brad, he did not always stay that short :). Here's what we look like 17 years later (oh my goodness, I cannot believe I just said, "17 years later..." Have I really lived long enough to be talking in those numbers???):

Okay, so I know this was not an exciting post. But I can't always make magic out of my boring life :)!!! So, hope you enjoyed the old pictures at any rate!

Blog-Stalking Idea #2

Okay, my second blog-stalking idea is one of those tag posts. Since I do not know this person, I cannot consider myself tagged. However, I liked the little thing, so I thought I would use it. And if anyone else needs something to blog one day, you can consider yourself tagged by me... Even if you don't know me :).

5 Things I was doing 10 years ago...

1) Getting ready to dissect a cat when school started back after Christmas. This entailed a lot of things. Not just mental preparation. One of the major things was this: getting my tetanus shot updated. It was over a year expired and I was in no hurry to get the stupid thing (see the bottom of this list for an explanation). However, I had thought out in my head that, since I would be using a very sharp scalpel for 9 weeks while dissecting the cat, there was always the possibility of getting cut by the scalpel. And I had already heard about lock-jaw (which comes if you get rust in your bloodstream and haven't had your tetanus shot). And I decided 13 shots in the stomach to cure that (if you catch it on time) was much worse than one shot in the arm. So, in order to get ready to dissect a cat (and possibly slice myself open with a scalpel at some point), I got my tetanus shot... (I did not end up cutting myself, by the way).

2) Horseback riding. Yes, I used to ride horses. I wish I had thought to have one of those picture scanned in, but alas, I did not. Maybe I'll get around to it one day, and I'll refer back to this post when I do.

3) Living in a place where Christmas-time was no different from the rest of the year (weather-wise). In Panama, which is 9 degrees North of the equator, the temperature is always in the 80s and maybe sometimes into the 90s. And it's balmy and breezy. I do like the colder weather that fits the Christmas season (I mean, most pictures depict the snow, etc). However, I'm really not a fan of the whole 'scraping the ice off the windshield in the frigid morning' thing.

4) Being Ward Chorister at church. Yeah, so somehow at the age of 17, I was the one leading the music for the congregation during Sacrament Meeting. I actually enjoyed this a lot, even though I felt quite inadequate, given my age. But the organist was also my piano teacher and she and I worked well together. If one or the other of us messed up, we'd look at each other and smile. I loved Sister Vest!

5) Learning how to drive. Yes, I know I was 17. But in Panama, you couldn't get a driver's license until you were 18. And since we were moving to Alabama in a few short months, my dad figured it was time to start teaching both Brad and me. He took us individually to a secluded place he knew about through work. It was across the Bridge of the Americas (just thought I'd throw that in :) ). These are good memories... Time with just me and my dad.

5 things on my to-do list today...

1) Show up to work (late, but successful)

2) Finish up the dinner in the crock pot and deliver it to the sister in the Ward for whom I am doing the service thing.

3) Wash at least one load of clothes (probably 2)

4) Wrap my dad's last Christmas present

5) Clean the bathroom (this has to be my least favorite chore ever)

5 Snacks I enjoy...

1) kettle cooked Lay's chips

2) most types of cookies

3) ice cream

4) Munchies (those cheesy chip mixes with sun chips, doritos, pretzels, etc)

5) bread (like baked yeast rolls)

5 Things I would do if I were a billionaire...

1) Pay off all my debt

2) Pay off my family's debts

3) See all the places I've wanted to see

4) Buy a house

5) Food storage and donate to the Church

3 of my bad habits...

1) eavesdropping (and being nosy)

2) sometimes I go through stages when I bite my nails (not currently in that stage)

3) complaining

5 Places I have lived...

1) Cardenas, Panama, Panama

2) Dothan, AL

3) Ashford, AL

4) Tuscaloosa, AL

5) (and in less than 8 months, I can say WA)

5 Jobs I've had...

1) copy cataloger

2) periodicals librarian

3) Ashford Branch Librarian

4) children's room assistant

5) baby-sitter

5 things people probably don't know about me...

1) I don't like needles (please refer back to #1 on the list of things I was doing 10 years ago). This is why I was wont to let my shots expire. One time, I had to get blood drawn because of a persistent cough (I was 12). I wouldn't let the lab tech draw the blood. So they sent me (and my mom and my siblings) to the emergency room to have it done. And it took 2 male orderlies to hold me down and a third person to draw the blood. Yeah, I'm pretty sure my mother was horrified at the behavior of her supposedly mature 12-year-old... My poor mom. And then, when I got that tetanus shot 10 years ago (which means it's almost expired again, by the way) I made my mom go back with me so I could lean against her and look away. Keep in mind I was 17. How wimpy is that??? But seriously, here's another one of my brilliant philosophies: if I was meant to have needles driven into my skin, I would have been born with them already in there :).

2) I have what some people (JULIE) consider to be a freakish memory. I have the ability to pinpoint dates. I've started to lose the ability to get down to exact days, but I can ballpark it for you, at least to the month and year. This has been very convenient for some people in my life (JULIE) because I can usually get them close to a certain event... as long as I can use my life as a "time-ruler". For example, Julie wanted to know if I could remember when her mom lost her brand new cell phone. Well, given that I was living with her mom when it happened, I knew it had to be between June and October 2006. And given that Julie wasn't also living there at the time, I knew it had to be after August 10, 2006. So I think I did pretty good at narrowing it down for her :).

3) After falling in love with the movie Dirty Dancing (and renting it repeatedly from the public library) at the age of 16 or 17, I would dance in my living room (when no one else was home) and try to do the dances on the movie. It was then that I decided I wanted to learn how to dance ballroom-style. I still have not done this, by the way.

4) I hate camping. My dad used to take us camping as a family at this place on the Atlantic side of Panama called the Aquativity Center. We'd been going there for years, and then one time we went, there were signs posted saying to stay out of the water. My dad figured it was just for silly reasons, like that there was no lifeguard on duty. But since both my parents were lifeguards once upon a time (that's how they met), we still went swimming in the lake or whatever body of water it was. Well, one time, I got a leech on my foot (ewwwww). I was hysterical. There was something sucking my blood!!! And it was gross!!! Luckily, my parents are knowledgable and resourceful. My dad tried to get a match close enough to it to burn it off, but that didn't work. So my mom proceeded to pour an entire salt-shaker's worth of salt on it, which shriveled it up (have you ever done this to slugs?) and made it fall off. Yuck ew yuck. Anyway, I was convinced this was the reason that we weren't supposed to swim in the water anymore: leeches were present. However, the next time we went there, we found out the real reason when we saw a huge log floating out in the water and my dad looked at the log through binoculars and... turns out... not so much a log as it was a crocodile. Yep, that's right. Crocodiles were in the water. Yikes. I hate camping. (Oh, and how gross is it that they used to use leeches medically and on purpose -- and some places still do).

5) My dad says I'm bossy, but I don't believe him :).


Okay, well, that's probably long enough. I hope some of this gave you a laugh. I thought it was fun. Oh, and since I went and scanned some pictures, I will finally add the one I wanted to put on the Goonies post. About how me, Julie, Bonnie, and Tatiana all became Goonies characters. If you want to read that post to get your bearings and understand what I mean, click here.

But anyway, here we are, Mouth, One-Eyed Willy, Sloth, and Chunk, in all our mall photo booth glory :). And tell me we didn't have fun....

Post Ideas Through Blog-Stalking

Okay, I have gotten into the very bad habit of what has been termed 'blog-stalking'. This is when you click onto the blogs of people you don't even know and read about their lives. What can I say? I confess... I'm guilty. However, I know I'm not the only one. (Yes, this lame excuse holds no water.... "but so-and-so was doing it..."). I know that other people do this, because I know there's someone in Wisconsin who repeatedly visits my blog. And, for the record, I don't know anyone in Wisconsin. And I totally don't mind that someone I don't know likes to return to my blog. I hope it's entertaining. I think it's pretty neat. Although I've probably scared them away, now that I've mentioned them. Haha ;).

But anyway, through blog-stalking, I have found some good ideas for posts in case I come upon a day when nothing exciting is really happening. And today is one of those days. I will fill you in quickly on the goings-on of my life, but it's nothing earth-shattering. Okay, we had a Christmas Party for the libraries on campus yesterday. That was okay. Nothing too terribly exciting. Also, I watched Ratatouille last night while drinking hot chocolate. That is a very cute movie. So that was my exciting day. Like I said, nothing really blog-worthy. And you know how I love to write and torture you with novel-length posts.

Okay, so this is the first thing I got from blog-stalking. It is a list (and we all know how I adore lists). You can find the whole list here: List

I don't know who is responsible for the list, but I love lists. Anyway, the following are the books I've read from the list. Those in italics are books I own, but have not yet read, but I figure I own them, so I will read them one day ;).

19. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time – Mark Haddon

86. The Poisonwood Bible – Barbara Kingsolver

196. A Prayer for Owen Meany – John Irving

223. Beloved – Toni Morrison

252. The Lover – Marguerite Duras

293. The Name of the Rose – Umberto Eco

301. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams

451. Catch-22 – Joseph Heller

456. To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee

508. Lord of the Flies – William Golding

520. Invisible Man – Ralph Ellison

529. The Catcher in the Rye – J.D. Salinger

547. Nineteen Eighty-Four – George Orwell

552. Cry, the Beloved Country – Alan Paton

564. Animal Farm – George Orwell

592. The Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck

608. Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck

609. Their Eyes Were Watching God – Zora Neale Hurston

622. Absalom, Absalom! – William Faulkner

671. The Sound and the Fury – William Faulkner

699. The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald

723. Ulysses – James Joyce

780. Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad

789. The Turn of the Screw – Henry James

804. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

821. The Mayor of Casterbridge – Thomas Hardy

825. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn – Mark Twain

831. Treasure Island – Robert Louis Stevenson

839. Return of the Native – Thomas Hardy

867. Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoevsky

897. The Scarlet Letter – Nathaniel Hawthorne

902. Wuthering Heights – Emily Brontë

911. The Pit and the Pendulum – Edgar Allan Poe

931. Frankenstein – Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

992. Don Quixote - Miguel de Cervantes

Well, that's kind of sad. I guess I need to get in gear and read some more!!! Well, I guess I will put the other post idea I got from blog-stalking up tomorrow. Because this one turned out long enough :). But now you know what I have read off of someone's list of 1001 books to read before I die. I guess I can't die for a LONG LONG LONG time to come ;). Just kidding, I know that's not how it works :). Oh, and I do read a lot. Just not books on this list. Trust me, I have a very long list (very long) of books I've read since 2000. But it mostly consists of popular fiction, and therefore not many of them are going to be found on lists of "classics" or "classics-types."

And, just for a Christmas-y picture:

Christmas Girls' Night, etc...

Okay, I was successful at getting my oil changed on Friday. I got Stefanie to follow me to this place that was recommended to me, so I could just drop off my car. The owner said he could have my car ready at 3:00. So I went back home and made the Mexican caviar for the girls' party (it's not really caviar, but I guess it looks kinda like caviar... although I don't really know because I don't think I've ever seen caviar). I packed up my stuff and packed the box I had to send to WA, and then got Stefanie to take me back to my car when it was time. Not surprisingly, my car was not ready. But the guy was very apologetic and asked me to give him 15 minutes. And he and 2 of his workers finished the oil change in 15 minutes while I sat inside. And while I was sitting there, one of the guy's young sons (probably about age 5), came over to me and said, "Are you waiting for the police?" Hahaha... Yeah, I'm thinking that is not a good sign. Anyway, based on eavesdropping (I'm really good at this), I think it had something to do with someone dropping off a stolen vehicle to be fixed. I'm not really sure. But I don't think it was anything for me to worry about. Oh, and they knocked off a few dollars, since they didn't have it done in time, and I only paid $17.42 for the oil change. I would go back again. It wasn't a bad experience, and I think they were sincerely sorry and had just had a hectic day (what with the whole police thing). And the owner tried to make it right by focusing on my car until the job was done and also cutting the price back.

So, after mailing my package to my family, I was on the road to Birmingham. Once I got close to the Galleria (this huge mall close to Birmingham), I really started seeing the traffic backing up. I guess people are doing their Christmas shopping full-force now. And then, as I continued to drive, I saw even more traffic backed up for merging onto I-65 South. And it didn't look any better from the other side, after I passed I-65. Traffic was lining up to merge from both directions!!! I just was super-glad that I wasn't going to be going to I-65 South. I made it to the Summit to buy the cheesecakes for our party. I could not believe the traffic trying to get back out of the Summit. But I braved it anyway, and bought two types of cheesecake. The Peanut Butter Cup Fudge Ripple (I love this one), and the Tuxedo. And, even though it took a while to get back out of the Summit, it wasn't too terribly bad. And I made it to April's house about 3 minutes before she did, so it wasn't super horrible. Tons of traffic and me having to push myself into traffic in the middle of rush hour (of which I'm not very fond), but I made it.

I made my Mexican confetti pinwheels and got a shower while they cooked. And once all the food was cooked, I started taking pictures. Here's the spread, with Courtney anxiously waiting for dinner to be "served."
And here's my plate:
Okay, clockwise from the top is: Mexican confetti pinwheels, grilled cheese, frito chips, Mexican caviar, ruffles, french onion sour cream (April did not know this was sour cream until after we ate it, and we couldn't figure out why it was so runny!). Oh, and plus we had Dr. Pepper to wash it all down.

And finally, here we are enjoying our cheesecakes:
So, as we ate, we watched Home Alone and Home Alone 2. How much fun to watch Christmas movies from my childhood! It is even more entertaining to watch them from an adult perspective, because, as April said, "And why weren't they holding his hand in the airport in the second one, given that they left him at home the year before?" Also, watching it now, knowing about current airport security, we just laughed to know that there is no way these scenarios could occur these days. The Home Alone movies wouldn't even hold water in today's world. Because, quite frankly, you have to show your boarding pass like 5 times before you can board the stinkin' plane. And in both of these movies, the whole reason the mix-ups occur is because they end up boarding the plane without having to show their boarding passes to anyone!!! So, it was funny (and kind of sad) to see how different things are 20 years later. And we also watched Love Actually. I love that movie. I'm just sad that I will never own the original (this one we watched was the taped-off-the-TV-and-therefore-edited-for-content version). Oh, we also made mint chocolate brownies, which were good. But we never did make hot chocolate, because, quite frankly, I don't think any of us wanted anymore food by the end fo the night.

On Saturday, I got home around 3:15 and then decided to go to the library to check out a book and browse their movies. This is because April and I had a long conversation about reading and what types of books we like to read, and I have to tell you, whenever I do that and haven't been reading much for fun, I really feel deprived and I just want to voraciously read everything I've been wanting to read for forever. So, to cure my inner-hunger for reading popular fiction, I went to the library. They didn't have either book that I wanted. Arg. But there was a third book that I had on one of my lists that was on the shelf. So hopefully that one will be worth reading. And I also rented Ratatouille, which I was surprised was on the shelf. I still have not watched it though. I opted instead to watch The Goonies. Ah, The Goonies. I will say that it shocks me to hear all the swearing in the movie. But it will always be one of my favorite movies. Saturday was actually a really ugly day in the afternoon. It didn't rain much here (but the wind blew so hard I thought it was raining, from the sound). But my dad said they had torrential rain in Dothan. I was just worried about the tornado possibility.

Sunday was church and that was great. We had 22 children in nursery! Wow, that's a lot! Of course, after the first of the year, about 10 of them will move up to Primary, since they are 3. I love the kids. They really are neat and so much fun. I really do love being the Nusery Leader here. I spent the remainder of my Sunday mostly reading and talking on the phone... to my mom, to Christina, and to Julie. Oh and Desiree is such a little darling!!! Christina was looking at my blog and reading about my trip and so everytime there was a picture of my mom on the screen, Desiree would run over to the computer, point, and say, "That's Mecca." Okay, I don't know why she calls my mom that, but she does. And she's consistent. She's been calling my mom that for about a year now. Too cute. And so Christina would point to me and say, "Who's that?" And you know what??? Desiree knew!!! She would say, "An' 'Ila". Oh my sweet baby... She's growing up. And she knows who I am :)!

Oh and I stole some more pictures off my cousin's blog. I think I should make her my new photographer. For one thing, she takes really good pictures of things I didn't get good pictures of, like these:

And for another thing, she took good pictures of me... Not that I'm trying to sound vain or anything. It's just that, after those pictures of my in the stadium... I'm desperately seeking decent pictures of me!!! And luckily for me, my cousin can deliver :). Seriously, I'm not trying to be or sound vain. But I think this picture of me and Aunt Hila is a good one, and I'm going to use the part of me for my new blog picture. So thanks Katherine! Hope you don't mind that I keep blog-stealing :).
Oh, and two things I wanted to include: the Mexican caviar didn't turn out as good as I remember it being when someone else made it. Also, here's the song from which they made the "theme song" of Love Actually. It's called "Love is All Around" and I love it.

So Much to Do... So Little Time!

I have really felt like there is no time to get stuff done lately. Ick. I'll tell ya what... having a full-time job at a place other than home is certainly inconvenient at times!! Okay, for me, that would be all the time :). However, I do like the bi-weekly paychecks, and I do like being able to eat and take hot showers. So I guess I'll just tolerate the whole "I have to go into work" thing :). What's really crazy is that I have gotten off early two days so far this week (today will make the 3rd day), and I still can't seem to get everything done!

Yesterday, after work, I went straight to the bank to deposit the check Stefanie wrote me for her half of the power bill. Then I went to pay the power bill (plus the $40 to put the stupid account in my name, since the girl who previously lived with Stefanie had it in her name and then left...). Fun. Then I went home and picked up one of my picture CDs and went to Walgreens to have two 8x10 pictures made (this is part of Christmas for my dad and my grandparents). I think I'm going to have to start going to Walgreens more often for pictures. It took all of 5 minutes once I placed my order. They quote a much longer time, of course, but the guy behind the counter verbally told me that the paper was loaded already, so it shouldn't be but 5 minutes. That's a lot more convenient than killing an hour in Wal-Mart. And yes, I know you pay a higher price, but sometimes not hassling with Wal-Mart and its crowds is worth the extra cost. I wonder if Walgreens would consider that one picture I posted a while back as "unprintable due to copyrighted photos in the background"??? Hmmm... Maybe I'll try that one day. My only issue with Walgreens is that they print the glossy prints. And not that I don't like the way they look (because, actually, these pictures came out better quality than the ones I had done at Wal-Mart), it's just that they show finger prints so much more easily...

After Walgreens, I went home again and wrapped a few presents while I waited for my visiting teachers to get there. One of them got lost, so just the other one came to visit this time. It was nice to get to know her, but probably she won't be around much longer, since she has graduated.

Oh, and speaking of school... Grades came in. I got all A's. Yay! Now April and I can celebrate the end of a semester, the getting of good grades (she got A's too), and Christmas when we have our "Girls' Night" tonight. Woohoo! But I digress.... (Are you really surprised?)

At 6:30, we had a Relief Society enrichment thing. We had dinner (I had some kind of corn chowder soup with ham or something in it... it was very good, 3 pieces of bread (1 double-corn muffin and 2 home-made yeast rolls... oh those were sooo good), a mini cheesecake thing, and a piece of triple-chocolate cake). And there was beautiful singing and presentations by some of the women in the ward. It was a beautiful and uplifting night in which we were reminded of the reason for Christmas, and we were also given the opportunity to perform acts of service for a sister in the ward by writing a service down on an ornament that we would be willing to do, and then hang the ornament on the tree. Then each sister got to pick an ornament. I will be cooking dinner and dessert for a family next Wednesday, since they are moving shortly and have two children under the age of 3 and are very busy. And at the end, we did a cookie swap. We made 2 plates: one for ourselves and one for someone else. I brought my second plate to work with me today and gave it to Le. Yesterday she shared with me that their family pet that they had had for 15 years died earlier in the week. He had stomach cancer. She cried as she told me yesterday, and I just felt like, though it's not really significant to give a plate of cookies, that maybe they would help her to know she has people who think of her. And a plate of homemade goodies can usually brighten a day, right? So I explained it to her this morning as I gave her the plate... and she cried. I didn't want to make her cry, so I felt bad about that. But she hugged me, and I just wanted her to know that she is thought of.

After the program last night, Stefanie and I returned home and I finished wrapping presents and packed the box up. So now all I have to do is go mail it (after I buy some box tape... I forgot that little detail - darn it). So that's on my list for this afternoon. As is getting my oil changed. I wonder how long it will take to get my oil changed...

Well, I think I'm about out of things to say. Oh! Here's a picture from NYC that my cousin took with her camera. I guess this will chronicle my trip to Jamba Juice, since I didn't take any pictures there ;). Anyway, I stole the picture off her blog :). And I actually like how I look in this picture ;).

Failed Cookies and Strive for Five

So the Relief Society is having a Christmas function tonight at church and part of it is a cookie swap. So I went through my "Christmas Cookies" cookbook and found a recipe for kiss cookies for which I had all the ingredients except Hershey's Kisses. So I went to Wal-Mart again (I had to get a few other things that I didn't get on Tuesday night) and got mint truffle Hershey's Kisses. Because I love mint and chocolate together. I got home and got a shower and then started getting ready to make the cookies. Well, at this point I actually read through the recipe directions and learn that it's a cookie press recipe. Well, just great. Like I have a cookie press. So I try to find another recipe for these same basic types of cookies, but in all of my cookbooks, nothing. So I call Brad (because I figured he could look up a recipe online, since I don't have Internet at home) and he looks in one of their cookbooks and gives me one that calls for peanut butter. Which is all well and good, but it also calls for brown sugar and shortening, neither of which I have. So then I call my mom at work to ask her if she thinks it really matters if you use a cookie press. She said she didn't think so. So, I gave it a shot. Yeah, a total bummer. They are edible, but totally didn't turn out right. Especially the first batch, since I didn't make a hole in the cookie for the chocolate kiss to sit in. And so they melted and slid all over the place (which prompted me to put them, and the wire rack upon which they sat, into the refrigerator). (Oh, and I put the Kisses on AFTER I took the cookies out of the oven, in case anyone was wondering):
Notice the sad looking kisses that have melted to the point of no longer having a point... Anyway, the second batch came out slightly better, but they still don't look all that great:
I mean, they are edible, but they aren't anywhere near as good as I was imagining they'd be. Once again, this is why I don't generally attempt to break out of the Nilla mold. I should have gone with regular old chocolate chip :).

I spent the rest of the evening watching THE GREAT OUTDOORS (I bought it at Wal-Mart, because I just think I should own it :) ) and wrapping Christmas presents. I'm almost done, which is good, because I have to get the package in the mail to my family in Washington. I will finish up the wrapping tonight and mail it tomorrow. I think it will get there in time.

I so dislike getting up in the mornings. I think I have hit a wall, because I have not been able to get out of bed! I have rolled into work at least 5 minutes late each day this week. I doubt I'll redeem myself tomorrow... I don't know what the solution is, because it's not like I didn't just have a vacation... And even before that, I had a week off that I spent in Dothan. Maybe I'm still just trying to catch up on my sleep from my blitz weekend :).

Okay, so this morning, they had the awards ceremony for Strive for Five. Well, our genius idea was to take the bus, because we had to go to the Stadium and I was wearing heels and Annie said she didn't feel like walking over to the stadium. Well, we finally figured out which bus to take, and then we didn't know where "The Zone" is in the Stadium. So we literally walked all the way around the Stadium (this is no small stadium, by the way), before discovering that we had to go INSIDE. So we got there late. Anyway, there were refreshments and they were giving out awards for the teams that lost the most weight. I was amazed at how much weight some of the teams lost. One team lost a total of 66 pounds!!! Wow! Our team was somewhere at 7 pounds. Of course, I think we would have had more loss accounted for if I'd have been here last week to weigh in with my team. Instead, I was on a flight to Philly. I guess you can't have it all :). And at least they didn't weigh us today, since I certainly did heifer it up in the Northeast... Everything was about the food :).

After all the awards and stuff, we took a huge group picture in the stadium. And then, if we wanted to, we could get team pictures done by the professional photographer in the stadium as well. Well, you know I took my camera, because this was going to be the only time I was ever going to go inside the stadium. So we got a professional picture and then he also took a picture of the three of us with my camera. Okay, I totally don't like these pictures. I look TERRIBLE (which is a hazard of getting up with barely enough time to throw on clothes, and forget makeup). And my nose looks so fat! Too bad, too. Because the photographer was cute. Not that I was thinking he was a prospect or anything like that... But when you see a cute guy, you kinda hope you look semi-decent. Sigh... But I will share the pictures anyway. This is Le and me. And this is our team.

Tri-City Blitz Day #4 - The End

Sunday, December 9, 2007
And waking up Sunday morning brought me to the end of my trip. I got up around 7:45 and got my contacts in. All my clean clothes were at my Aunt Hila's house, so I just wore my pajamas over there and changed when I got there. I was finally able to meet Harrell. He works nights, so he was never home or awake while I was at my Aunt Hila's. He's very nice, and I'm just sorry I didn't get to meet him more. Aunt Hila made me some toast on sourdough bread (this was really good!!) and I drank Wawa eggnog with it (yeah, probably not the healthiest way to start the morning, but who cares?). And Aunt Hila packed me a sandwich for the plane. That was so nice. And it was yummy. Maybe I'm not a big sandwich fan because I just don't know how to make them well. I'm stingy with the meat and usually only put one slice on there. Aunt Hila put several slices all bunched up so you get a lot of meat in every bite. Anyway, it was a very good sandwich and I thought I would share my observations about my sandwich-making skills (or lack thereof) with you. Then it was time to go. It was very sad to leave.

Katherine took me to the airport in Philly. It was nice to visit and talk on the way, and it was a pretty easy drive. She dropped me off at the airport and I was checked-in and through security in no time. So I sat and read until my flight boarded. The first flight went fine. I slept a bit on it. The change of planes this time was in Michigan and it was rainy and cold there. Which caused us to have to have our plane de-iced and anti-freezed before we took off. Now there's an interesting experience. I'd never been on a plane that had to have that done before. It seems like a slightly nerve-wracking thing, especially when the stewardess says, "We have to get de-iced before taking off, because... well, we can't take off with frozen wings." Haha... And yet I wasn't nervous about it at all. I figure they know what they are doing and that this must take place often. And I've actually heard a story much worse than this one when the temperatures were close to or below zero and the plane had to be de-iced in a hangar and everytime they'd bring it out of the hanger to take off, it would freeze over again, so they had to push it back into the hangar! And that flight made it, because it was one of my old professor's parents. So, I wasn't really worried. Anyway, this de-icing thing did put us a tad off-schedule, but only 30 minutes. April was actually waiting at the airport in Birmingham when I landed, and I didn't see her and figured she was on her way, so I sat on a bench about 40 feet away from her for like 30 minutes. I felt so bad when we finally discovered that we had both been there already. But thanks again to April for picking me up at the airport!

Oh, and just to give you the contrast... you know how they announce the local temperature when you land in a place? Well, in Birmingham when I landed, it was in the 60s. Talk about extremes! When I took off in MI, it was so cold and rainy that they had to de-ice the plane!!!

Once at home (after my hour drive from April's house to Tuscaloosa), I unpacked, showered, and forced Stefanie (okay, not really forced, just offered) to look at my pictures once I'd downloaded them onto my computer. She actually said she liked looking at them. Hopefully she wasn't just being nice :). Stefanie is a dancer, so she was impressed with the Rockettes. Then, sadly, it was time for bed, because I had to go to work the next morning.

Monday
Well, I might as well finish filling you in on everything! Monday was pretty uneventful. I worked all day. I had my final class of the semester on Monday night - my online class. That thing lasted the WHOLE time. Because so many people were trying to cram in their presentations at the last minute.

Tuesday
Okay, Tuesday was pretty cool. I ate lots of junky food. See, the President of the University has an annual Christmas (only they call it holiday) Reception. So all the staff (and I assume faculty as well) are invited at different points throughout the day to go to the President's Mansion and eat food. And you should know my philosophy by now: Free Food? I'm there! I always go over with Annie (and FYI, "always" means last year and this year ;) ). And this year William walked over with us. Which worked out well, since I insisted on taking a picture in front of the mansion and I really do feel awkward in pictures by myself. So William took the picture with me, because Annie didn't want to be in the picture. And if you'll notice in the second picture (taken inside by their Christmas tree), I am alone in the picture and I look goofy. That's my "This smile is so fake because I just want you to hurry and take the picture because I feel totally awkward and conspicuous" smile. Then, in the afternoon, the Cataloging and Metadata Department had our annual Christmas Student Appreciation Party. So, that was more free food. Well, I brought stuff to contribute, of course. But I still ate all sorts of other stuff. So yeah, Tuesday was an "eat bad food" day. Of course, I was pretty much not hungry for the rest of the day/night. After work, I washed clothes and then Stefanie and I went to Wal-Mart. I was mostly buying the ingredients for the "girls' night" that April, Courtney, and I are having on Friday. We're going to eat appetizers for dinner and yummy dessert (Cheesecake Factory cheesecake, as a 'thank-you' for doing the airport thing for me) and watch Christmas movies: Home Alone, Home Alone 2, and my taped-off-the-TV copy (and therefore edited and CLEAN) of Love Actually. It should be fun! I guess we can call it our end-of-the-semester party!

Oh yeah! And then, while I was in the shower, I got a message from my cousin saying she'd gone into New York City again and saw the Naked Cowboy!!! So where was he when I was in NYC??? Not that I particularly was concerned with seeing the Naked Cowboy so much as I just wanted to see something truly odd in the middle of NYC. And I think that would have qualified. Either way, my cousin took his picture and sent it to my cell phone. Haha.

After Wal-Mart, Stefanie and I sat around talking until suddenly there was this loud knock on the door at about 8:40. I looked at her and said, "Who would that be?" So we both quietly walked to the door and I looked out, and there was no one there. So yeah, I was beginning to flash back to last year at about this time. Only this time, because I wasn't alone and because I've lived in Tuscaloosa long enough to feel safe, I wasn't freaking out. And when we opened the door, there was a plate of goodies on our mat. Yep... The Christmas knocker strikes again! Amazing how much braver you can be when you're not the only one there :).

Oh, and I should also mention that yesterday and today's high temperatures was/is in the low-80s. I so totally wore flip flops to Wal-Mart last night. How crazy is that in the middle of December??? Of course, I've also heard that, the last time this happened a few years ago, it spawned a tornado. I guess we'll see what this year brings...

Oh, and I got a phone call a few minutes ago on my work phone. Usually it's a wrong number. So imagine my surprise when the person on the other end of the line asks to speak with Nilla Wafer. Haha. It was Julie!!! I have no clue how she got this number. It made me think of the days back when I was the Ashford Branch Librarian and she would call say she was "looking for a book by Beverly Clearly." I always knew it was her, even if she tried to disguise her voice. And the reason is because only Julie would call and ask for a book by Beverly Clearly when the author's name was Beverly Cleary. And she did it every time. I told her that once and she laughed. Ah... Good times :).

Tri-City Blitz Day #3 - Washington, D.C.

Side note: having 4 separate parts to my tri-city blitz makes it so nice for post-title purposes :). I don't have to wrack my brain for a nifty title more than once, because I just tweak it to reflect the day and city :). But anyway...

Saturday, December 8, 2007

Well, due to the fact that we'd had such an early morning on Friday, we decided to leave later in the morning for D.C. I had spent Friday night at Katherine's house, so I was woken up by her cell phone singing "Oh When the Saints Go Marching In." She was in the shower, so I just informed her of the call when she came downstairs. She said it was probably our moms calling to make sure we were awake because they were on their way over (which would have been earlier than planned). It turns out that it was our moms, but they were just calling to check on something and hadn't left home yet -- oh, I just remembered what they were checking on: food. They wanted to know if we wanted them to bring the extra cheese olivettes and the pretzels I bought (the misspelled ones) to snack on on the way down. And just so you know, food was a large part of our trip :). Oh, and if I haven't mentioned it before, my aunt lives only 7 minutes away from my cousin. Okay, so Katherine and I finish getting ready and our moms pull up around 8:20 and we pile into the car. And away we go! We stopped at Wawa on the way (yet another different one, so this makes Wawa #4). Katherine had to fill up the gas tank, and check this out: They have the gas station attendants in New Jersey! They do the work for you! Pretty nifty. And wonderful day! This Wawa wasn't out of hot chocolate!!! So, I took my opportunity to have fabulous hot chocolate and got a 20-ounce cup of it. With vanilla steamer mixed in. Oh yum. Oh, and I bought a boston cream doughnut. So yummy. So we get back into the car and on our way again. And we are driving along yakking up a storm when all of a sudden Katherine's hot chocolate spills everywhere!!! She'd picked it up by the lid and it wasn't on very well, so the whole 16 ounces of delicious hot chocolate spilled all over her. Which, in my opinion, is totally tragic, because that is some good hot chocolate. That might have been enough to make me cry at the loss of that stuff :). Anyway, so we pulled off the road so Katherine could clean up her seat and put a towel down. And then we had to stop into Wal-Mart so she could buy a new outfit, because the other one was soaked in hot chocolate. Katherine is amazingly upbeat and happy, even when things like that happen. I was impressed. I usually get frustrated at situations like that ;)!

So after that little adventure, we got on the road again. We talked and laughed the whole way. We listened to some of the Christmas culture of the Northeast. And quite frankly, because I would be willing to bet that most people who read my blog have never heard this before, I'm going to share it. So you must click here and listen to one of the most popular songs in the Northeast at Christmas-time. And FYI, while driving down to D.C., we went through Delaware (we actually stopped there to use the restrooms) and Maryland. And even though we made a couple of wrong turns on the way, we used them to our advantage so we could change clothes (since we decided to go to the Washington, D.C. Temple before the monuments). So as you are driving along on the Interstate (I think it's I-95 South), you round a bed and this is what you suddenly see in front of you:
It's just beautiful. And the grounds surrounding it are very beautiful, even in the winter. We all went through and did a session, which was a neat experience, us all being together. And afterwards, we took a lot of pictures. For the sake of time, I will only post a couple. But suffice it to say that, among our 4 cameras, we easily took 30 or more pictures. And for the record, I was not trying to be cute in the second picture. I had the camera set on something and on timer, so I didn't know if it would cut off my head if I stood up straight :). We went into the Visitors' Center to see the Christmas displays inside there. They had Nativities from around the world, which was really neat. They also had Christmas Trees decorated, and each tree was decorated according to a different region of the world. So they had a tree for the Americas and the Caribbean Islands. And it had a pollera from Panama on it! It was so cool:
And the Visitors' Center in D.C., like the one in Salt Lake City, UT, has a Christus statue. It has to be one of the most peaceful statues I have ever seen. The implications of the statue , the idea that the Savior is inviting all to come to Him, really are amazing and offer so much hope and comfort.
After leaving the Visitors' Center, we went to the bookstore and spent money (ah, such a fun thing :) ) and changed clothes, since we knew we'd be hoofing it around D.C. And we were back on the road. But by this time, it's getting to be dusk, so we pretty much know that we're going to be walking around D.C. in the dark. So as we drive down there, Katherine says, "Well, the good thing about going to D.C. at night is that all the traffic will be leaving!" Just keep that comment in mind for future reference :). So we do manage to make it into D.C., but it looks like we're going through a relatively bad part of town. So we try to not look like tourists by closing the road map and turning off the dome light in the car. Oh yeah, we werehungry clear back before we went to the bookstore, so by this point our stomachs "have started digesting themselves" (as Katherine so eloquently put it). Hahaha! So we swing into the first thing everyone can agree on, which is Wendy's. We finally get our food there (and they left out the granola for Katherine's much-anticipated yogurt and granola - she was quite disappointed) and get back out into traffic. And we eat while we drive. At first, we see signs for the monuments. But then we see a sign telling us to turn left, but we weren't in the right lane, so we had to keep going straight. And for some reason, we just kept on going straight. And there are people everywhere!!! So we eventually decide to pull out the map again and figure out where we are. And so we have to turn around, once we've discovered the route to get to the monuments. So I'm navigating and Katherine is driving and our moms are in the backseat. Katherine tells them to help us look for a certain road sign, and they are doing good for a while. And then they get off topic and start talking about something else. And then Katherine and I are trying to figure out if we're still on the right track, and Aunt Hila says, "Okay Debbie (my mom), start singing." Because her philosophy was that if they were singing, they couldn't get in trouble if we made a wrong turn because it wouldn't have been their fault. Or something along those lines. It was so funny. I can't really do the story justice by telling it. But it was so hilarious.

Okay, so to explain D.C. and actually the Northeast: they have these things called circles. For anyone from Dothan, these are not huge circles like the Ross Clark Circle, where you actually can turn left. In a circle, your only option is to turn right. They are kind of like a wheel and the roads coming off the circle are like the spokes on a wheel. If that makes sense. And actually, as luck would have it, I found a picture of the perfect example (in fact, I think it was the one in question during our trip):
Please disregard the green arrow, because I don't know what it's pointint to. However, we were on Connecticut Ave the whole time and we were trying to get to Massachusetts Ave. If you'll notice the circle, you see that there are no left-hand turns. So Massachusetts Ave. will pick up on the other side of the circle as well as the one you see on the map. So we start going around the circle and Katherine says she thinks we need to take the first right. But we don't see a road sign, and I'm looking at the map and I see other little roads that seem to be connecting to the circle as well, and I think those little roads are the roads we are seeing at first, not the one we should go down. So she listens to me and we keep going around the circle. And then I see the sign for Massachusetts Ave. So I say, "There, that one." And she says, "No, we'd be going the wrong direction, we want the other Massachusetts that we already passed." And I'm like, "No, we can't have passed it, we just started going around the circle!!" And she's like, "No, there was another Massachusetts at the beginning." But I'm telling you, I have no clue how we went around that circle so quickly that we passed Massachusetts twice by the time we were having the conversation. And at some point in my brilliant conversation (oh yeah, because she did turn down the road I told her to turn down, but we were going the wrong way) I said, "But you have to take this one, because you have to turn right onto Massachusetts!" And she said, "Hila, it's a circle. You always have to turn right!" And in the backseat, we start hearing Aunt Hila singing, "Laaaaaa." So that way she was absolved of any guilt :). Hahaha... We laughed so hard. Anyway, so we made our way back onto Dupont Circle and took the correct right turn onto Massachusetts and we were going in the right direction.

Okay, so FINALLY make it down to the monuments and there are masses of people and cars parked everywhere. Remember Katherine's earlier statement that I told you to remember for future reference? Well, now is the future. Seriously, cars everywhere. It took us about 30 to 45 minutes to find a parking place (not to mention the time we spent going in circles... literally). And I'm not even sure how we ended up back where we ended up when we finally did get a parking place. But it was several blocks away from the monuments, so we were walking again. Oh, and we had to have a potty break, so we had to find an open building. Would you believe coffee shops in D.C. close at 7 on a Saturday night? That's worse than Dothan! Who'd have ever thought it? Oh, and coincidentally, as we walked closer to the monuments, we saw more and more parking places that we had somehow missed on the first trek around. So we ended up sending Aunt Hila back to get the car while Katherine and I found a potty and my mom waited for us. And then we realized we probably should have sent Aunt Hila with one of our cell phones, because she had lost hers (or possibly gotten pick-pocketed) in NYC. Anyway, she wasn't coming back and wasn't coming back, so Katherine ran to find her. It turns out she got lost at first and said she really felt like she really was getting Alzheimers, because she had no idea where we were parked. But then she found the car and Katherine found her. So the car got moved closer to the monuments. And we were on our way. Our first stop was the back side of the White House (oh, and did I mention there were tons of people?).
And when we got around to the other side of the white house, we suddenly see why there are so many people: they are doing the National Christmas Tree Lighting and the burning of the Yule Log. Ah yes... We totally knew that and we totally planned it this way :). Just kidding. But it was cool to see the big Christmas Tree. Taking pictures in front of it was a chore, because there were people EVERYWHERE. But I got a few. Here's one:
We next headed over to the Washington Monument, thinking we were going in the right direction toward the Lincoln Memorial. However, as is par for the course on this trip, we were not going in the right direction. However, there were potties down where we ended up, so our moms used those before we finally got our bearings (with the help of some other tourists) and got pointed in the right direction. But here's me at the Washington Monument:

We walked over in the direction of the Lincoln Memorial (I'm telling you, it's hard at night to see very far, so it was easy for us to not know which way to go). We stopped at the World War II memorial first, because that is the war in which my Grandpa served and we wanted to take pictures. So this first one is of me and my mom and the second one is of my mom and aunt sitting on either side of the place where my Grandpa served, and the third one is of me and Katherine doing the same. We next found our way to the Korean War Memorial. I really can't even express how awesome all of these memorials are. This particular memorial... the statues of the soldiers were amazing. The fear was captured on their faces so well. Oh, and there is a wall near this monument with one simple phrase carved into it: Freedom is not free. That touched me.
Next we headed over to the Lincoln Memorial. I have always always wanted to see the Lincoln Memorial. I don't know why, exactly. But I have. And so I was finally able to. And it is massive.
Now, I have never been to D.C. before, ever. So I cannot say this from my own experience. But both my aunt and my cousin said they can't believe how much better it is to come at night. You miss the crowds, people talk more quietly, and there is just more of a sense of reverence. And because of this, we were able to see something that both my aunt and cousin had missed the other times they've come, due to the crowds. On the steps of the Lincoln Memorial are carved the words "I have a dream," memorializing the speech Martin Luther King, Jr. gave from the steps in the 1960s. It makes sense that he would give his speech at the Lincoln Memorial. I just don't think I'd ever really thought about it and made the connection before. But anyway, I took a picture with it:Our last stop for the evening was the Vietnam Wall. I have to say that I think it was best that we ended our tour with this monument. I have heard from several people that you can feel a difference when you walk through this monument. I can now say that I have felt it. The crowds were not large, so there wasn't the automatic hush that others have described, because it wasn't really noisy in the first place. However, as I passed the first part of the wall, I could feel a change. It almost seemed to get a little warmer. I know of no other way to describe it. I took a picture pointing toward the name of someone my friend Annie knew who was killed in Vietnam. I will also say that I had no idea the massive numbers of names on these walls. It is sad. I had no idea that the walls became as tall as they do. And they are filled with names. Literally filled.

And after this, our conversation changed. Each of the four of us has had (or still has) a family member in the service who has gone to war. My aunt's husband Harrell served with the Marines in Vietnam. My cousin's husband just got back from a stint in Iraq with the Air Force. My brother Brad (and therefore my mother's son) also spent time in Iraq with the Air Force. We know what it is to worry about someone in a war zone. We know the cause for which they are serving. And we know the price they may be asked to pay. And this wall memorializes many, many men and women who paid that price.

Even now, since I wrote this, it is hard to change back into a light-hearted mood in this post. Seeing this monument, along with the others that honor our veterans and fallen soldiers, will change you forever. This ended our tour of D.C., and we headed home.

Upon getting into the car, Aunt Hila said, "We need to refill." And Katherine said, "I think we have enough gas to make it." And Aunt Hila said, "I'm talking about food." See, I told you food was a big part of this trip :). We got stuck in some traffic on the way home (we aren't even sure what happened, but it literally slowed all traffic to a stop). We somehow ended up in Virginia for a short time (while on the Interstate). And we did stop at something called the Maryland House and we bought some food and hot chocolate or apple cider from Starbucks. And we got home at 3 in the morning. I said goodbye to my mom that night/morning. She cried. My aunt Hila thought she was saying goodbye to me that night too, but since my flight left later on Sunday, I was going to get to see her again on Sunday, so she stopped crying and said, "Oh good, I don't have to cry now then."

What an emotional day. But it was so wonderful.

Oh, and if the crazy font is all messed up, I'm sorry. This kind of thing aggravates me, but I tried to fix it and I am sure it didn't work. Arg.