The Craziest of All!

I have been a busy little bee lately. Hence no blogging. No time, people, no time!!! Technically I don't have the time to write this one. But that's just a technicality, so we will overlook it :).

I worked a few days last week at the funeral home. Three, I think. Last week is sort of a blur, actually. Tuesday afternoon I had a meeting for Primary. Which was also true of Thursday evening and Friday morning. Yikes! Meetings galore! On Friday I went to Wal-Mart and bought some new garden boots. They are pretty. My old ones were really just old shoes of my mom's. Like trail-blazer type shoes, so not really for gardening. And the soles were all cracked, so water would seep up into the shoe and soak my socks. No good. And thus, I bought new boots. And mesh to put over my strawberries. Because I'm stingy and don't care to share my strawberries with the birds. I also ended up house-sitting for Bob and Melanie again, so that was nice. Did some reading. Oh! Went to the Police Memorial event at the funeral home on Friday. Eventually I will probably post pictures from it, since there are pictures on the location camera. But I haven't actually been up there with my laptop (or at all for that matter) this week. New job and all that rot. So I will do that on Friday, since I will go in and work up there a few hours in the morning.

Saturday was another pretty day (well, until the evening, which was inconvenient) so I went to Costco with my mom, then to the bank, then to Fred Meyer. Then came home and planted my squash plants in the rich cow-manured soil. Haha. Covered my strawberries. And while the rain is great for free watering, it kind of puts a damper on taking a walk with a certain dimpled cutie who dropped by for a few minutes to bring me garlic bulbs, chives, and raspberry starts to plant out in my garden. :) Then Sunday was a full day. I thought we were singing in Sacrament meeting, so I got there early. But it turned out we weren't singing. My mom arrived with Desiree and Emily and I was so excited to see them!!! Apparently, as soon as my mom got Emily in the car, she started saying, "Go see Ha?" Because Ha is what she calls me. That sweet baby girl! She loves her Ha! And I got to go with Desiree to Primary this time! So we sat together for the first part and she is such a sweet girl. I love my Desiree. Of course, with our first Sunday in Primary as a new presidency, there was a lot to do! Trying to figure out how things go, etc. But it went really well. Then I had choir practice after church. Then I packed up my stuff at Bob's, came home, and then went walking with Sue. Then home to shower, work on dessert for Monday Meals (which was Chocolate Dulce de Leche bars), then back to the church for a Scout Committee meeting. As part of my responsibilities, I will be "in the know" about Scouts in order to report back. Then I came home, got comfy, talked to Jeremy and made plans for Saturday, and then relaxed for the rest of the evening.

Only to have Monday. Which was the beginning of a new job. Okay, I have had some crazy-exposure before (and by that, I mean exposure to crazy people). But I do believe my very first phone call on my very first day of my new job takes the cake. Good gracious, I still don't know what that woman's issue was (she claimed to have multiple issues) and why she thought calling the County Commissioner's office would be a solution. What I do know is the following (because she told me): her husband is a sharp-shooter; she is no dummy, even though people think she is because she is ethnic; she is a visionary woman who predicted 9/11, but everyone laughed at her; the foreclosures across the nation are a scam and Obama is the head of it; everything she was saying is on the dollar bill; we know who she is, because she is the voice in our television, but the voice isn't her, it is her instructor. Yeah.... So that's the phone call that broke me in. The Nilla Life is never very vanilla! The day went well enough. I look forward to being up to speed and having plenty to do, because I detest trying to find something to do to pass the time. The good news is that they hired me in at a step 2 rather than a step 1. But the reason they did that is a bad one, in my opinion. Turns out they are forced to make it a union job, so I will have to pay dues to a stupid union I don't even believe in. Oh well. I might actually come out ahead because of that. We did Monday Meals last night, and it was tons of fun! We never even got around to watching Scrubs. We just sat around telling stories and laughing and catching up. After all, it'd been 3 weeks, and in 3 weeks, a lot happened! And that brings us to today. More work (no crazy callers today) talked to Juliebean on my break, then walking with Sue. And then talked to the one and only fabulous Elka and then Jeremy. Then dinner, shower, pjs, blog, and now on to scriptures and bed!

And because I know what the rest of my week is going to look like, I'll recap it now. Because I don't know how soon I'll have time to update. Tomorrow is work and then hanging out with my friend Heidi who is moving to Colorado. Thursday is work and then a surprise going-away party for Heidi. Friday is work at the funeral home in the morning, 1:00 meeting having to do with Scouts, and then the Temple with my mom. And Saturday, if the weather cooperates, I'm going to work outside in the flower beds (as is Jeremy) and then we're going to go spend the day hanging out and eat somewhere. Oh yeah. Then Sunday I have a 6:30 in the morning meeting. That's pretty gross, so I'm not going to think about it right now :).

After all... I do have much happier things to think of ;).

Reunited... And it Feels So Good!

So, I had two choices for this blog post title. I ran them both by El and Ka... This one got the bigger laugh :). So... enjoy the song here.

As most know, our Thanksgiving was a huge event here in Washington. We had a family reunion for my mom's side of the family. First time we've had one since I was all of 7. So... over 20 years. And this was so wonderful! So much fun! And yes, we were reunited! In so many ways :).... I will give it to you from the top.

On Sunday, November 23, my Aunt Hila, my cousin Mrs. S, and her two daughters Little M and Baby L flew in. It was my first experience driving to the airport. I took my mom's car because it is a bit roomier. Plus, she has the pass that automatic deducts from an account when I drive over the bridge, whereas in my car, I'd have had to pay a $4 toll. It's also cheaper with the pass... So, I took my mom's car :). I made it to the airport, though I was about 30 minutes late. I was excited about figuring out the airport. We loaded everyone up and headed back to the house. I dropped them off and headed to church. After that, we headed home and all hung out a bit. Both Mrs. S and my aunt were exhausted from a day full of flying with two babies under age 2. Christina had come over to get Desiree, since we'd watched her that day since Nick was working over-time and Christina had to work.

On Monday, I took Christina to her doctors' appointment and then we both went back to the house to help make empanadas and hang out with family. That morning, we all woke up to our cars iced over. And I was up at 6 in the morning. Phew! It's been a long time since I've been up that early. I remember why I don't like it ;). We had a fun time, though this was definitely the beginning of the chaos! My mom, Aunt Hila, and my grandparents went shopping, so the rest of us girls prepared dinner and half of the empanadas. I ended up spending the night at Christina's since I was babysitting Desiree the next day at 7:30, and quite frankly, I didn't want to wake up that early and drive in the cold :).

Tuesday was the day Ka (of Elka fame) flew in. I watched Desiree until around 3 and then headed home to get my mom's car again. I was glad I had already driven the airport route once, since to get Ka, I would be going at night. And, in true Washington State fashion, it was drizzling. But, I made it :). With plenty of time to spare! Although I couldn't find the cell phone lot, so I gave up and went to a gas station so I could use the facilities. Then I parked under a street light in the parking lot and read until Ka called me to pick her up. It was great! Felt like we weren't being reunited after almost a year ;). Needless to say, we had a great ride back. She practically crammed aplets and cotlets down my throat :). Then we had to go out to eat, since she was hungry. So, we went to Shari's, where Ka actually made quite an offer to an employee there. She told him she'd do anything he wanted. Hahahaha... Okay, so not entirely true. I told her we could get this shot in front of the pies of the two of us. And she said (as the guy happened to be coming out toward us to collect the bill), "I'll do anything for you." And since she was facing him when she said it, he made a joke about the offer. So, as you see... the days of Nilla and Elka began with a bang ;). We then went to the house where we stayed up talking to our moms and laughed sooooo hard. And saw that our futures will involve holding things away from our faces and raising our eyebrows so as to see them better... Hahahaha.... Around midnight, we finally got to get ready for bed. Ka and I slept on the pull out couch bed. After we spent time laughing our rears off, of course :).


Wednesday started early. Very early. Another morning that started at 6. But, there was so much to do. Aunt Hila, Mrs. S., Little M, and Grandpa went to run a couple of errands, and while they were gone, Baby L woke up crying. So, Ka decided to see if we could give her bananas. It was a first for her. And she had the cutest facial expressions. Most of the day was spent baking pies. Oh my gosh... we baked so many pies. I think we baked a total of 8 pies and two loaves of pumkin bread. Plus lasagna, garlic bread, and salad to boot. And somewhere in the middle of it all, Mrs S, Ka, and I went to see Twilight, which I really enjoyed. My mom, meanwhile, was out getting the cookbook printed. *Oh, we didn't go to Forks for many reasons. And it was probably good we didn't. We'd have never gotten everything done otherwise. In fact, we were working on assembling the cookbooks. Aunt Sue and Uncle Ernie got there also. It was a full house. And it was another late night, and with Ka and I sleeping on the sleeper sofa, we had to wait until everyone else was done. But, we gathered our comments for while we lay in bed later to discuss and laugh. Let us never forget the night Ka was awakened 3 times by the dog. And other gems worth remembering forever :).

Here are the rest of the pre-reunion day pics (click on this picture and it will take you to more):

And we have to have the candy shot!

Thursday began bright and early. And once again, we filled the kitchen. Plus we had to get everything up to the funeral home. Oh, did I mention that our family reunion was held in a funeral home? Why? Well, because my mom works there and we got use of the kitchen and huge room attached to the kitchen for our big day. So, my mom and Ka went up to the funeral home while Mrs. S and I ran to the store to get last minute ingredients (oh my gosh was it busy!). Then we dropped everything off and I picked up Christina after I got a shower. Christina had baked the ham, and it turned out great. Michele made home-made apple pie (we had a total of 10 pies there, people) and also sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top. Very delicious. And Tarylyn made the green bean casserole, which was also yummy! And of course we also had turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, frozen fruit salad, more sweet potatoes, potato salad, and waldorf salad. And mashed potatoes. And rolls. Oh my gosh there was soooo much food! Oh, but I am getting ahead of myself. So... Before getting Christina, I also went and helped decorate. The lime green color is everywhere for good reason. And don't you love our table decorations? There is an inside joke for why we had milky ways and butterfingers.

Okay, so the reunion was a huge hit! Almost everyone was there. And it was soooo fun! And it's going to be hard to break it all down. But, I must :). At the very beginning, the four girl cousins went off to the side and took a picture together.

We decided to take the whole family group picture first, because Mrs S needed to put Baby L down for the night, since on the East Coast, it was already WAY past bedtime. And the pictures turned out so awesomely!!! Here's the front shot:

And the back shot:

Why a back shot? Well, because the t-shirts were awesome! Like I said, we had this reunion at a funeral home, so we went with a totally morbid theme... How totally great are these!!!??? (You can't read them, so I'll tell you what they say... On the front, over the left breast, they say: "Families are like fudge -- mostly sweet with a few nuts." The backs have a cemetary scene and they say: The Lymans -- Not just a bunch of stiffs! (to go with the funeral home thing...). I told you we are morbid and slightly twisted ;).

Okay, so the turkey got in the oven a bit late, so while we waited for it, we played some games. Aunt Hila came up with great games, such as family BINGO and the toilet paper game. And here's the thing with the Toilet Paper game. You choose as many squares of TP as you want. But then you find out that however many squares you have, you have to tell that many facts about yourself! So, Ben, my older brother, had about 50! And you get the point :). I should mention that one of Brad's facts was that he is #1. And his next fact? That I'm #2. Hahahaha... Gotta love my brother. Brad told me yesterday that one of us who love The Office should have thought to say, as one of our facts: "Fact. The polar bear is the best bear." Or whatever it is that Dwight says that is so funny.

Next we sang the songs of the branches of military in which members of our family served or currently serve. Here are Brad and El (who arrived shortly before all the festivities began), who, along with Mr. N (Mrs. S's husband who wasn't able to be there due to school) were or are Air Force:

Then it was on to Family BINGO, which was a lot of fun too, even though I didn't win ;) (I'm so kidding).


Finally dinner was ready! We had a prayer and got ready to eat! Look at these busy bees in the kitchen! And then look at all our pies (and there are 2 more not pictured!)




And so we ate. Because that's really what we do best :). So here are shots of each of the tables:







After dinner was time for digestion (shoot... we had to make room for all those pies!). So, there was minor cleanup while the kids learned the Chicken Dance, courtesy of my mom and Aunt Hila.


And then it was on to the talent show! Oh my how much fun this was!!! We had Little M do the "Smarty Pants Dance". And when she realized we were all applauding her, she really hammed it up and kept on dancing, much to her mom's surprise! It was adorable. Here's her Smarty Pants Dance (and also her mom's dance :)):

Ka also did a talent. She picked her nose with her tongue. Hahahaa.... I wasn't prepared and therefore didn't get it on video :(. (Okay, so she didn't really pick her nose. But she totally could have!). And then my cousins Jimmie and Arthur got up and "geeked out" to music:

And then Saria did some ballerina moves:

And then my Aunt Mounyen (aka Aunt Nene) sang:

And then my Aunt Hila and El did their skit. And this was hilarious! Aunt Hila forgot her lines immediately. And she didn't do so hot with the second line, either ;). Oh how we laughed!

And finally, the four sisters sang the song "Sisters" from White Christmas. And this is priceless. Left to right are my Aunt Hila, Aunt Nene, Aunt Susan, and my mom.

Priceless, no? There were two more games my mom had done. We had a guess the baby game. Which was a hit. Everyone wants copies of the layout my mom did of the little baby pictures. It was neat to guess :). And also one where you have to guess the candy name. And finally it was time for pie. And after pie, we took a couple more pictures of all the cousins:

And then we cleaned up. We were out of there by 10 and everything was so fabulous!!! I ended up spending the night with Christina, since she had to get up early (2:30 am) to get to work by 3 for Black Friday. Poor thing. And Nick worked at 8:00, so I slept there so I could babysit.

I ended up driving Nick to work Friday morning, but that was just right down the street and it was a cold day. So Desiree and I went back home and slept. And slept. When Christina got home, I headed home and started working on Panama night food. Oh my... We had another great menu. Arroz con pollo, empanaditas, cheese olivettes, and chinese plums. Hahaha... We were gong to have flan and banana cream pie for dessert. But we had so many leftover pies (we didn't even make a dent in them on Thanksgiving) that we opted not to do that... Also, my Aunt Hila, Mrs. S and the girls left early Friday morning, so they weren't there Friday night. Ben, Michele, Sean, Tony, and Royce also weren't able to make it. We so missed the family members who weren't there. But those of us who were there had a blast! We returned to the funeral home (look, it's a big crowd, and we need room!) and ate and laughed and visited. Good food all around once again :). I didn't get many pictures that night, but others did, and eventually my Aunt Sue is going to compile all our pictures into one CD :). So yay! There is a rather attractive one of me on Elka's camera... right? But here's what I did get. Don't you love the food shot? It really wouldn't be a Nilla post without it :).




Oh yeah!!! Here's what Elka looks like when she eats a Chinese Plum :):

(I'm almost positive my lovely shot will end up on her blog, so I'm doing this as pre-revenge :)).

Saturday, El and Ka, my mom, and I went to the Seattle Temple. It was wonderful. Will have to wait on Elka to send me her pictures. But, I have a picture from the food we ate afterwards :). We all went to Garlic Jim's after we hit the bookstore.


On the ferry ride back, we played Apples to Apples, which was so fun! When we got back to the house (after a much-needed stop for some yummy Coldstone), we played again with Aunt Susan. And we could always tell which card my mom threw in as comparison... For example, the card we were supposed to compare things with was "luscious" and my mom threw in a card that said "dark alleys." I don't know about the rest of you, but I don't find dark alleys particularly luscious :). There was another one that was similar to luscious and she threw in the card for "disco." We laughed soooo hard.

On Sunday, we went to church. Then El, Ka, and I (and my mom, though she didn't find it funny) watched the latest episode of The Office while we did laundry. Oh, and we ate leftovers and also those bacon cheese mini appetizers. Yumm-o. (Let me state that I haven't bothered to weigh myself after this foodie week). And we said prayers before bed. And, well... Elka's laughing at the memory :). *I've been feeling itchy*

On Monday, I had to take El and Ka to the airport. It was sad. We went by my mom's job so Ka could say bye to my mom. We happened to round the corner and there was a huge meeting going on inside the room where we had the reunion, and you can see in. Everyone stopped and looked at us. And then they waved. Hahaha... So, this was our final picture:


I'm so glad I got to drive them. We laughed and enjoyed the company on the way. I miss Elka already!!! And also, I'm a pro at the whole SeaTac airport. So anyone planning to visit me... Piece of cake! I talked to my mom's boss when I went back to trade cars. I'm probably going to do some filing for them for a flat fee. Then I went to spend time with Christina.

Today, I took Christina to her two appointments. She is now on maternity leave. I can't believe Baby Emily will be here in a week and 2 days!! I got to hear her heartbeat at the second appointment. So did Desiree.

So, thus ended the week of family. What a wonderful time. It was soooo much fun. And it feels empty here without them, even though it was certainly chaotic! But, we formed relationships and made memories we'll have forever :). Love you all!!!

*And don't forget... there are more pictures than I have put on here. By clicking, you can view them all :).

It’s Hard to Walk Down a Steep Hill in Heels

That’s an FYI for any of you out there who might have wondered. Anyone as dumb as myself who gave it a try already knows this J. But, that all has to do with my Seattle pre-interview, which I will get to.

This week has been mostly more of the same. On Sunday I talked to Elka. Which is why the news flash is up there at the top of my blog as a new feature. I will update it weekly with a little tidbit, since I know I’ve gotten lousy at blogging much. But Elka totally admitted she loves Dwight. I told her we couldn’t be friends anymore. Unfortunately, I can’t dismiss her as my cousin. Blood runs thick and all that. :). Seriously am so excited she’s coming up in November!!! We’ve planned an Office marathon. But in addition to talking about the tv show, we had the most hilarious conversation. I love talking to her, because I just laugh so much. Elka, no butterfingers for you! Or dark chocolate milky ways for that matter :).

On Monday, I babysat Desiree. It was a beautiful day, though we weren’t expecting nice weather. So, I took Desiree to the little park in their apartment complex. She’s a cutie. I just figured it was such a nice day that it wouldn’t have been nice to keep her cooped up. She was very excited about it. We spent an hour there, and Christina called to tell me that night that Desiree had been telling her all about how she went to the park with Aunt Hila. I watched several episodes of Season 3 of The Office. And lost my battle with myself to have self-discipline and only watch 3 episodes. I watched the entire 3rd disc. I have issues. It’s how I would unwind downstairs cuddled under the covers all alone… watching the show on my mom’s computer until the wee hours of morning.



Tuesday I took Christina to have her blood drawn and to take her oh-so-fun glucose test. I spent pretty much the whole day with Christina, and we had a good time. We went to the grocery store to pick up a couple of things. I had my Temple Recommend interview with the Bishop and then I went home. And I finished off watching Season 3 of The Office. Oh yeah! And, I got a call to interview for a part-time paraprofessional position that is closer to here than Seattle. I want a full-time job, but that doesn't mean I won't take this if they offer it while I'm looking. Plus, it's a way to get my foot in the door in a library system around here :).

On Wednesday, I took my grandmother to have her hair permed and then took both my grandparents to Costco. And rode a motorized cart from the parking lot, because I was told to follow out an old couple to their car to get the cart. And spent 2 hours shopping. Elka, you should call me at your earliest convenience. I spent the rest of the night finishing up Stargirl. And wrote my booktalk at about midnight. And got to bed far later than I should have, since I had to get up and catch the ferry this morning.



Today… what a day! I’ll tell you, that was exhausting! I got up and got mostly-dolled up. I wore my tennis shoes and socks over my nylons, because I wasn’t walking the 6 city blocks to SPL in heels. (Somehow walking 6 city blocks from SPL didn’t seem nearly as silly…). I made it to the ferry dock and boarded the ferry. Free to go over to Seattle, you only have to pay to come back. First time in my life I’ve ever been on the ferry by myself. Not so much fun alone. I read quite a bit, but was feeling kind of tired, so I dozed a bit. I also talked with Juliebean a bit before my phone died on me completely in the middle of Puget Sound. Turns out you don’t get such great service out there in the middle of the Sound. “Can you hear me now?” Apparently not. I had plenty of time once I got to Seattle. So, I walked up to 1st Avenue… And you know what they say, “When in Seattle, do as the Seattle-ites.” So, I went into a coffee shop and ordered a white hot chocolate. Starbucks. Then I hiked (literally, I mean this was all uphill!!!) 3 blocks up to 4th Avenue, and then over 2 blocks. To Seattle Public Library. Oh my gosh. I’ve never seen anything like it that is a library. I will say I don’t really think it’s attractive. But, it’s definitely different. It’s all glass. There are no solid walls on the outside. They are all glass. I took a few pictures from inside to give you an idea. Oh, and 11 floors! And it takes up an entire city block! It’s unreal! And they have a security guard (or probably 10) that goes around and wakes people up if they are sleeping! Hahahaha… I sat and read while I was waiting for my interview time. That’s how I know. I didn’t fall asleep, though. Anyway, by this time I’d already been into the bathroom to touch up my make-up and take off my tennis shoes and put on my heels. So, my interview was at 2. Two women interviewed me. For about 2 hours. Okay, easily one of the most grueling 2 hours of my life. They ask you all these questions about, “What would you do if…?” Or, “Tell me of a time when you ...” That was some hard stuff! I hope it went well. I didn’t feel awful at the end of it, but I was so glad it was over. Hopefully I’ll hear about whether or not I qualified for any of the positions before too long. Of course, hopefully I at least qualified for one! I mean, that was seriously the most daunting thing I’ve ever done. Probably it was a cake walk to other people, but it was like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. They did give me a free bottle of water to drink while I was interviewing. Anyway, after it was over, I was happy to leave and head on my way back to the ferry, hoping to catch the 4:10. And this was all downhill. Which wouldn’t be so bad… if I hadn’t been in heels still. Ugh, my toes paid a price. And you have to go slower, because you have to carry yourself so as not to fall flat on your face. And it was getting-off work time for all the Seattle people, so there were lots of people around. So I really didn’t want to fall flat on my face :). I made the 4:10 ferry. I found a seat and started reading. We pushed away from the Seattle dock. And about 5 minutes later, the captain of the ferry came over the loud speaker and said we were having minor difficulties. I looked up. We weren’t even moving. Hahahaha… We were dead in the water, just floating. Now, Julie… I took lots of pictures for you of the ferry so you could see how big it is. I would leave this part out of the story, because I know it will disturb you, but it’s part of the day, so it has to go in. But trust me, this does not happen often. And also, I’m here writing this, so you know we must have survived J. Anyway, they start the engine up finally (never did find out what was going on), and we head on our merry little way. Until I hear the engine cut off again about 15 minutes later. And so now we’re in the middle of Puget Sound (where there isn’t really great cell service, remember), floating again. And again, the captain came across the speaker. Pretty quickly they got the ferry going again. I’m fine, as long as we’re still floating. When I got off the ferry, I looked at it, and you could tell it was a pretty old one. But seriously, this has never happened when I’ve been on a ferry before. So, don’t let this story ruin the chance to ride the ferry, Julie J. It’s a cool thing. And since you’re doing all these things (like riding motorcycles and stuff), you can handle the ferry! I got back to my car (after not remembering which way I came out of the parking lot, so I wasn’t sure which way to go back in to find my car! – I’m such a small-town girl). I drove home. I was sooooo exhausted! I didn’t do all that much (not including the hike), but I was so tired. And then Grandma sent my mom and me out to pick up dinner from Burger King. I so didn’t want to. I wanted to stay home, eat something quick (I was soooo hungry. All I’d eaten all day up to that point was cereal in the morning and the white hot chocolate. Plus I wanted to get out of the interview suit and into something comfortable. I kind of did. I totally went to Burger King in the suit and flip flops (no nylons). But anyway, here I am, at the end of a very long, kinda stressful day. And I’m tired. But, since I started writing this, I ended up finishing it. So, if you see something in there while you’re reading that makes you think I didn’t write this on Thursday, it’s because at first I wasn’t going to post it until Friday… But since I’m writing and I can’t shut-up!!!! I ended up telling all the stories J. So, let me finish uploading the photos.


P.S... if you find random "J's" in here, those are supposed to be smileys. I typed it up in MS Word. And apparently the smileys don't translate... not even to a colon and close paren. Who knew?

P.P.S... SPL has a revolving door to get in, Juliebean. I thought of you :).

I [Am Now Debt] Free!

Well, almost... And it's only temporary :). But, I'm going to celebrate anyway!!! Oh, this is a song-title post, but just be warned... This video features the members of Queen dressed up like women. It's kinda scary.

So, do you know the exhilaration that comes when you log into your online banking and see this under the credit card account: Balance (8.87)!?! That means they owe me money! Actually, that probably won't be true once the finance charge comes through. I called to get the payoff amount, so I payed more than it was showing I owed. Hopefully that 8.87 will cover the finance charge like the guy said it would. The sad part is that it won't remain at zero for long, since it will cost a pretty penny to move across the U.S. But, I will be building up funds in the meantime to help cover those expenses, so hopefully I will not owe much once I make it to Washington. Anyway, I think it's an awesome thing... I am credit card debt-free! I met my goal!!! Yay!!! Now the only thing I have to pay off is the small amount of money I owe in student loans for my undergraduate degree!

I have to say, I have been blessed. I have seen that, as my goals have been righteous desires, the way has been paved that I might accomplish them. Because I worked at both Troy University (during my undergrad years) and now here, I have gotten huge huge huge tuition breaks! I know these were blessings. I just feel so completely overwhelmed at the hugeness of the blessings I have witnessed in my life. I would even classify some as miracles. I will honestly say that there is no rhyme or reason to how I could live very comfortably (having everything I need and most everything I want), travel as I have, go to school, and still manage to pay off my credit card debt on the salary I make. It was not logical for me to think I could do all I have done in the 1.5 years I've been here. I know this absolutely. And so I know that the fact that I have been able to accomplish this is evidence to me (even though I don't need evidence to know it), that Heavenly Father always keeps His end of the bargain. When we do as He has asked, He will bless us. There is no sacrifice too great, and He will compensate that sacrifice beyond our hugest imaginations. I know it is a true principle. I have seen it in my life. Anyway, I just thought I would share those feelings. Because I truly am amazed.

So, Stefanie and I went for a 30-minute walk yesterday. It would have been longer, but she had already scheduled for her Home Teacher to come by at 6. So, we just took a short one. I guess Stef and I are doomed to smelly walks. It doesn't seem to matter which part of the trail we walk, it's stinky. This time I think it was animal poop we kept smelling. From the kind of animal that eats a lot of insects, from the looks of the piles on the trail. Ew. Next time we walk by the river, though, I plan to take pictures. That walk we took on Saturday (by the river) reminds me a lot of Panama for some reason. However, next time we walk by the river, I don't plan to be a genius and recommend walking up to the water/sewage treatment plant. I think it horrified Stefanie when I told her that's what it was -- that they recycle the water. Poor Stefanie... I think by living with me, she has lost some of her sweet innocence.

So yesterday, Elka and I had a fun blog-comment conversation on her blog about blog-stalking. She's trying to decide whether or not to announce her stalking tendencies to those whom she stalks. Her reason for this is that one of the people she would regularly stalk went private, and I think she was highly offended! (Hahaha). Anyway, so someone else (other than she and I) finally chimed in on her blog, and so when I was reading that comment, I thought, "Hmm... who is this person?" So then I blog-stalked them. And she was talking about how she always leaves a comment when she is "blurking" so the blog-owner knows she was there. And there were 3 comments on hers, so I clicked to see the comments. One comment was her own and she was telling Elka that "Nilla sounds funny." (How hilarious to read about yourself on a stranger's blog). And then Elka replied, "She's a riot. And she loves stalkers!" I asked Elka why she couldn't be more specific and say I love blog-stalkers. Saying I love stalkers is kind of creepy. I'm so blaming her if I get mugged ;)! I'm starting to think I should make a category on my blog called "My blogosphere acquaintances." Then I can just add the blogs of people I have "met" through the blog world, but only if they say it's okay. Which would mean I'd have to admit it. So far I'd have like 2 (because those are the only two to whom I have confessed). Because if I add people I blog-stalk but that I know/have met (like Nicole), then I should put them under my friends/family blogs, because I actually know them. So, Nicole, if you're reading this, you'll have to let me know if it's cool that I add yours :). Oh, so though I'm not sure why I should expect my blog-stalkers to leave me comments when my blog-invitees don't, I will invite them to do so anyway ;). (And totally kidding about the blog-invitees. I'm not dissin' them (how's that for some 90's terminology?)).

And, as a side-note... Is the English language not so totally radically awesome and versatile? Okay, so I know it's a difficult language to learn for non-English speakers. We have some pretty wacky rules, it's true. But in the last 8 years (at some point in there), we have added new terms like "blurking" "blogosphere" and "blog" to our vocabulary! It will not be long before they show up in a dictionary. I think that is awesome. (In case you didn't know :)). Good grief -- am I really that old? 2000 was 8 years ago? What has happened?

I had more weird dreams last night. I dreamed several different ones. All very vivid. I wonder why I dream more sometimes than others... Or rather why I remember them better. In one, I was somewhere where some guy robbed a place. He might have shot someone, I don't remember. But when he left the building, he had set off a trap where bullets or something were going off everywhere. I saw several people get shot by those bullets. It was kind of gruesome. Probably the goriest dream I've ever had. I don't really think I'll describe it here, because it was very gory. And the really weird part is that I don't remember feeling scared in the dream. I do remember that I saw my reflection, though, and I was super-skinny. Obviously I was dreaming.

Well, I'm gearing up for a fun weekend, but it's also depressing to see the gas prices. Ugh. I'm working at the Temple tonight and then tomorrow I'm driving to Montgomery to meet up with my friend Tammy and just hang out. Woohoo! It'll be fun. And, as usual, the weekend will go by far faster than it ever should be allowed to do. So, I hope you guys have a great one!

*And Julie 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!

It's a Rainy Day

You wouldn't believe how interesting my search was for the song that goes along with this post :). It hails all the way from the 1980s (only the greatest decade EVER) and Sesame Street. So here it is. Turns out this is another song I've been singing the lyrics wrong to for a very long time (I'm going to blame my mom, since she's the one who used to go around singing this song ;)). I would sing "why does it have to rain anyway?" The real words are "why do we need the rain anyway?" So, there you go. They say you learn something new every day. I guess that was my new info for the day. Does that mean I get to go home and crawl back into bed and enjoy this lovely rainy day curled up under the covers? Yeah, only if I don't want to get paid. Okay, I guess I have to stay here. Hmmm... I think I'm going to alter those lyrics even more... "Why do I need a job anyway?" Hahahaha!!! I crack myself up :). The other thing that popped up in my search on youtube was this Sesame Street thing. Now that is interesting. And only slightly annoying. Could the Twiddlebugs enunciate any clearer??? Some of them sound like the Chipmunks or some other cartoon I watched as a kid.

So in class last night we had to go around and demonstrate that we knew how to use various media technology items (such as a digital camera, a cassette player, a scanner). So we got to play with an iPhone. So it's pretty much a cool little thing, but I have to say it's a little frightening (in fact, it's a lot more frightening than it is cool) that, when you press the "maps" icon, it brings up a map that shows you where you are. Can anyone else say "Big Brother?" Yikes. (Oh, and there's wikepedia again...). So I do realize my phone is a tracking device just as much as the iPhone is, but to have it so blatantly staring you in the face is rather disconcerting if you ask me. Anyway, if you haven't read the book, you should. I should read it again, since it's been since 1999 since I read it. Fiction? I think not... (And I'm not a conspiracy person either... But I'm telling you, it's a frightening little read if you live in today's society). Anyway, back to school. So Andrea and I are slightly technologically challenged. We have no problem loading a DVD (thank goodness!) and we can figure out how to play a cassette player with two decks (and this one had A deck ontop of B deck... Weird little boombox). But, we couldn't for the life of us figure out how to turn on the video camera. Genius me, I kept pressing the button with the red dot in the middle. And nothing would happen! So we had to get the professor to show us. How sad is that? It's even sadder when the realization finally comes that probably the red dot was indicative of "record." Good grief! Where have I been for the last 20 or so years? Doesn't the red dot ALWAYS mean record? Green means on! And lucky for us there was a little green thing sticking out of the silver thing that looked like a thumb groove. Unlucky for us is that that didn't really mean much to us until after Dr. Nelson showed us how to turn it on... Yep, genius. Absolute genius :).

And so Elka called me last night. She really cracks me up. And "that's about all I have to say about that", if I may take a moment to quote Forrest Gump.

And you know, even though I've said this many times, I really do have the strangest dreams. A few nights ago I dreamed that I was somewhere with a group of people (seems most of them were my immediate family, including Brad and my mom) and Sandra Bullock was brought to join the group. She was wearing a turquoise shirt and she was acting rather crabby, so I knew she wasn't going to be willing to take a picture with me... Also in that dream we were at the Bocarron (a river we used to frequent in Panama -- sucky Judge Reinhold --Tarylyn, that's for Brad, so mention it to him ;)) and we were making our way down the river. At one point I think my dad and I were just floating along and I suddenly saw we were about to hit some rocks, so I told my dad to stop. Well, next thing I know we're in some weird like sitting room (complete with chairs) that was reminiscent of a men's "smoking room" or whatever, right in the middle of the river! During Spring Break, I dreamed about 2 tornadoes. I was in charge of all these little kids, and when the first tornado came, we were at this like retreat or something. I had been told (I don't know by whom) that the tornado would not destroy this particular table, so I needed to get all the children under that table. Then the second tornado that hit was in a big city. Again I was in charge of all these little kids, and then Ben (my older brother) was there and he was helping me get the kids into this big empty room. But then I remembered that it is best to put as many walls between you and the outside as possible, so I told Ben, "No, we need to get them all in that closet over there." There was a big empty closet in the room. Anyway, I remember in that dream the tornado was literally right outside of the window. It had touched down on the ac unit outside and there were lightning sparks going between the ac unit and the tornado. It was weird. (It was even weirder that I dreamed this on Friday night, March 14, and then woke up the next morning and went in to say good morning to Meemaw and she was watching the news and the story was about the tornado that had gone through downtown Atlanta). Over Spring Break I also dreamed I was trying to get a passport at the post office. It was costing me some exhorbitant amount of money, and it was only going to be good for 3 days to 1 week. And I remember thinking in the dream, "That's fine. I just need the passport long enough to get me to Panama and I can go apply for my citizenship there." Anyway, I know I've had several more weirdo dreams. I know I had one last night, but I can't remember it at this moment. I dream a lot; I always have. I think my subconscious is rather strange :). And now you have a peek into the Nilla psyche. Scary, huh :)?

Food, Glorious Food!

Elka, I just want you to know that I decided on this post title solely for your benefit :). And Julie, Elka said that makes her sing a song in her head, so I went to youtube to see if I could find it, and turns out... Here it is. So I guess I do rock... I made a song title for my post without even intending to!

So yesterday I got off work at 3:30 and headed to the public library to re-check Crisis and also to get a few other suggestions about medical horror books from the librarian. For one of my assignments in the Adult Services class, we have to read 5 books from a specific genre (mine is medical horror) and we are supposed to use "tools" to find these books. A librarian counts as a tool. I had already selected books on my own (Crisis and a Michael Palmer book), but figured I'd better use a tool to find the other three. The librarian with whom I ended up talking was very helpful. Somehow she started giving me authors for crime fiction (which was a tad off-topic), but I did get her to give me a book called Genreflecting, which suggests books in various genres, so that was helpful. And at the end, she wanted me to note that we did NOT use the Internet, but rather that we used the library catalog, print books, and good old-fashioned librarian know-how. A little extreme of her to be so adamant about it, I think. But she wanted me to note it, so I'm noting it here :). For your benefit. So, I have 2 new authors to read: John Saul (an author I'd always intended to try out, just for my own information), and Patricia Cornwell. I've actually read a lot of Cornwell's earlier books. So I couldn't remember the last one I read, and I was trying to guess. Well, the one I picked out I have already read (back in 2003), so I will have to swap that out later. But the important thing is that I have her as an author to read. Oh, and although adding stuff like this is what makes my posts notoriously never-ending, I will add this: While I was the Ashford Branch Librarian, I was doing a lot of reading. This was helpful, because I was able to recommend books to patrons, etc. So, my goal was to read at least one book from each of the incredibly popular authors, just so I'd have a feel for their writing-style, etc. That's why I say John Saul was an author I always intended to try. I even tried Danielle Steele, although I wasn't very impressed with her writing. But hey, she (or her 'team of writers' - we librarians are sure she has a team of writers) cranks out about 4 to 5 books a year and they are always on the best-seller lists. So, I felt it would behoove me to be at least vaguely familiar with her books.

But, as usual, I digress... So I did do some more note-taking last night. I don't know, I'm disillusioned with my topic so far. I thought I was going to be researching the service of things like bibliographic instruction and offering free computer classes at the public library. But the topic my professor says that all falls under is information literacy, which, from what I've read so far, is something akin to "learning how to learn." Not exactly what I was anticipating. So, I have emailed the instructor to see if I'm even on the right track. But I need to get on the right track soon if I'm not, because I have to present my findings to the class next Thursday. Yikes! I also read more of Crisis. I also talked to Elka. It was nice to get a phone call out of the blue. And Elka cracks me up anyway. So she was driving around and is about to go on base, so she has to show her ID. So she tells me she's about to put the phone down and go through the gate. So I'm like, "Okay." So then I hear about a minute of silence. And then I hear Elka again, "Hi!" And so I say back, "Hi!" Because I'm thinking she's playing around. And then I hear her say, "How are you doing?" And I still think she's playing, so I playfully say back, "Well, I'm just dandy." And then I hear her say something else unrelated to my response and it suddenly occurs to me that she is not even talking to me; that she can't hear any of my responses; and that she is talking to the guard at the gate. I'm such a dork. So I told her about this when she got back on the phone and she laughed. So then a few minutes later, she goes, "Oh, hold on. I have to go through another guard gate." So I'm like, "Okay." Now, you would think I'd have it together this time. But you'd be wrong. I hear some silence. Then I heard, "Hi!" And I say, "Hi!" Luckily, this time, I figured it out faster... But seriously. What is my problem? I guess I just expected her to simply show her ID without talking ;). Which would mean that, if she was talking again, she was talking to me :).

While talking to Elka, I went and made dinner. I decided I wanted to use up more of my red bell pepper that I had bought for the pinwheels I made the night April was over. Because seriously, what is the deal with red bell pepper costing so much more than green bell pepper? And the taste is not the same, so I don't really think you can always just interchange them. Like I don't think the green bell pepper would taste as good on those pinwheels. But I never use the whole pepper, and the one I bought in December, I only used about 1/3 of it and ended up having to throw the rest away. I didn't want to do that this time. So, I decided I'd make chicken quesadillas. So I used canned chicken, green onions, red bell pepper, tortillas, and cheese (of course, this is a given if you know anything about Mexican food or me). Now, it was an experiment, since I'd never done it before. And I wasn't following a recipe. But this is how it looked when it was all said and done. Oh, and I made a total of 4 of them, because we ran out of cheese...Not too bad if I do say so myself. I probably should have cut it in half again to make the triangle wedges, but it was just me, so this was good enough. And actually, it's quite healthy, all things considered. The cheese probably puts it a little closer to unhealthy, but you have to have dairy, right? And I have to have cheese. And then I finally got around to eating this chocolate creme thing that April brought me when she came for girls' night.
Sorry for the blurriness of it, but I was trying to zoom in. But you get the drift. Like how I took a picture after I took my first bite? And I bet you also like how I made a visual contrast by propping the package up against and placing the pie in front of the two vitamin bottles behind it. I think I will name this particular piece "Naughty and nice." Okay, not for nothing, but I crack myself up. Oh yeah, and so, between the yummy chocolate creme pie thing last night and this delicious Publix bakery cheese Danish that Virginia just dropped off at my cube, I would have to say that I feel I'm well on my weigh to recovering from that 1.8 pounds gained last week... And no, that was not a misspelling.

And finally... Well, let me first interject this statment: I was going to put a remember-when story in this post, because I've been jotting them down whenever I think of them. And I have some doozies. But, as you can see, I have gone on and on long enough. So I will leave you with one final thought. My co-worker William informed me that NKOTB (and if you do not know what this stands for, you have not been reading my blog sufficiently, because I have educated you on this before...) has announced a reunion tour. I know, I know!! Several of you are probably fighting fainting right now at the thought of this! At first I did not believe him, because I couldn't find evidence of its truth. But now I know it is true. They have not, however, announced a date. Which is tragic. I bet there's a good chance they might have gone to B'ham. Of course, there's probably an even better chance they'll hit Seattle. And yes, I am seriously considering this. So, their website is here. Okay, I just spoke with William and he said the official announcement (which will have the dates, I assume) is not supposed to come until February. Which is tomorrow, but I'm sure it's not the 1st of February. Anyway, I went to that website last night, and it's totally useless. You can sign up to receive exclusive information (but I'm not giving them my mobile #, so forget that) and you can watch 2 videos. One of which is Hangin' Tough. So "listen up everybody if you wanna take a chance"...I don't know about you, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed! And don't forget to wave your hands like they do :).

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.