Christmas Devotionals, Slumber Parties, and THE CIRCULATOR!

Please allow me to take a moment to bask in the knowledge that I am officially "just floating" through the rest of the semester. Yeah, April and I have to give our presentation on our public library case study tonight. But the actual work part is done. I hate creating the presentation. Once it's created, I'm absolutely fine with presenting it. Speaking in front of crowds does not really bother me. So I'm not stressed about tonight. I'm just glad everything is done!

Well, let me go from back to front about my weekend :). Last night I went to my church's Christmas Devotional. It was broadcast from Salt Lake City, UT, and we were able to listen to Presidents Hinckley, Monson, and Eyring speak about the Savior's birth and what a glorious event it was. I always feel so uplifted and happy when I listen to these leaders speak. Their messages are always ones of joy and optimism. Prior to that, my friend Jenni invited me over for dinner and a visit. I love visiting with Jeni. She is one of the sweetest people I know. And she is amazingly organized! I always feel like I should contribute something to our meals, so last night, I took over some Sis. Schubert rolls. Well, I needed foil to cover them before popping them in the oven, so she directed me to her plastic drawer-thingy that had a drawer dedicated to things like foil, saran wrap, wax paper, etc. I realize it's probably not a novel idea to do that. But it sure had never occurred to me before! So, now I have a new way of organizing my own kitchen one of these days. Prior to going to Jeni's, I worked on some family history stuff, and before that, I relaxed and read a bit, and before that, I went to church. So, Sunday was a full day.

Slumber parties... I went to April's on Friday after she and I interviewed the director of the Homewood Public Library. We had lots of fun. Well, at least I did ;). April made pizza loaded with black olives and cheese (I love both of those ingredients). I met Courtney, her daughter. We watched SAY ANYTHING, which is a truly classic 80s movie. Who doesn't totally love Lloyd Dobbler??? And I made home-made hot chocolate, which we sipped while watching the pivotal (and best-known) part of the movie:

Then April and I proceeded to stay up until 2:42 a.m. That is indeed a rarity for me. But it was fun to visit and tell stories and laugh. Of course, the result of staying up that late was that we skipped the Christmas Parade which we had planned to attend. I slept until 9:30 and April slept until about 10:30. Courtney woke up before both of us and was downstairs watching TV when I went down.

And lest we forget... No discussion of my weekend would be complete without mentioning The Circulator. Sounds sinister, doesn't it? Well, that's because he is:

Hahahaha. Yeah, he does look pretty sinister and mean. That is my friend Lonnie. They call him the circulator, because he enforces policies - a practice that is not always looked upon favorably by patrons of the public library. But, obviously, Lonnie is really a good sport. He posed for this picture so that April and I could use it in our presentation for tonight. So he must not be all that mean :). In all honesty, Lonnie is not mean at all. He's hilarious. I used to work with him when he was the Assistant Director of Houston-Love Memorial Library. As Lonnie and I visited on Friday, he was shocked to learn that I am now 27 (he met me when I was 19). He said, "Do you know how old that makes me feel?" And I'm thinking, "yeah, well do you know how old that makes me feel?" Anyway, I have a picture, which I did not bring with me (but if I can get Kristin to send me her scanned copy, I'll post it here) of Lonnie that proves he isn't as mean as he appears to be. Seriously, how frightening can a man look while sitting on a sit-n-spin made for a 1 year old??? Yes, I have a picture of Lonnie like that. I used to consider it blackmail. However, I gave him a copy of the picture on Friday and he said he was going to hang it up so that other people could see his lighter side. So, I guess that means it's not blackmail anymore... However, also to give you an idea of Lonnie's lighter side, you can see him as he looks greedy: (this picture makes me think of Scrooge, except for the smile)

And here's a picture of him trying to still be the circulator (obviously you can see I am incapable of keeping a straight face):

And finally: I told Lonnie that we had to take a nice picture, or people wouldn't believe he was my friend :). So, Lonnie's lighter side:
I love catching up with friends I haven't seen in a while. It's always great to laugh with them. To reminisce. I really have been blessed with great friends.