oy! another month gone by

work has been less busy since the only program i've had was spring crafts and hop in your jammies. we made butterfly magnets, coffee filter flowers, and bunny puppets. it was fun! jammies had 7 kids and it was perfect for lots of participation. we did london bridges and ring around the roses and had fun animal masks and it was a blast. plus any part of work where i can wear my pajamas is a good thing! cool things - a patron gave us a check for $10,000 and crap i forgot the other thing, maybe it'll come to me.

done lots of fun things with the fam. went camping with my parents, aunt and her boyfriend. we went on a long and lovely kayak ride, watched blind side and talked by the fire. it was relaxing and i read a lot and it was only and little warm and buggy. i did miss brian a lot. it was the first camping trip without him. i didn't have anyone to climb trees with (and their was a giganitc oak tree!) and only could get mom to play yahtzee with me (she got 3 yahtzees in two games!) and no one to do dishes with. i missed his sarcasm and grouchiness and his sweetness and his expertise at putting the camper up and down.

went to trey's 4th birthday party at chuck e cheese. haven't been to one since i was 11 and it was way fun! i got to hold a beautiful baby and laugh and catch up with my church friends from my teenage years and eat pizza. trey was very cute, especially with the presents. last year he wanted to look at and play with everything as he was opening gifts and it took forever. this year it was how fast can i rip this stuff open and get to the next one. karen and justin and i stopped at babies r us afterwards and i got her present. right now i'm working on the invitations for her baby shower. they are green and pink and jungley.

mom and cat and i hung out saturday. we went to the quilt exhibit at the museum and saw lots o quilts. a few lovely and a few weird. some had so much stuff on them glitter and shells and applique and embroidery. quilting technique kind of hit the back burner. but there were a few that took our breath away with their amazing stitching and colors and perfectness. then lunch at crispers and michael's (more scrapbooking stuff-i can't stop!)

i have so many projects to work on. i am furiously trying to finish cat's graduation present. it's not gonna get done on time, but hopefully it won't be too late. i'm doing karen's invites and then trying to make something for the baby. i also need to work on her pregnancy album and a much overdue baby shower book for ishu. i mean her kid turns 2 in july, so it's a bit late. i also want to make a picture book for olive's bday. i'm going to spend a few days with them around memorial day, so i can take the pics i need for it then. however, my camera is on its last leg. i hopefully can get a new one for christmas.

i went to a jewelry party at emily's last week and am going to host one at my house in 2 weeks. a good excuse to work a half day and get my house clean. i got together with the library ladies at emily's saturday and had fun laughing and talking and catching up. i also saw emily's son aidan play football that morning. so cute. 5 year olds trying to pass a football is hilarious. they even have little cheerleaders!

i am very excited about my trip to see susan at the end of may. we are roadtripping to arkansas and maybe missouri this time. never been to either state, so i'll have more to mark off on my places i've visited map. i also booked a cruise for jodi and i in december. i got way more back from the irs than i planned, so i was able to do it. it is 5 nights, 6 days, key west (i've never been!) and nassau. jodi's never cruised and she'll be finished with her pre reqs for pa school, so its a little celebration for her. it was way cheap (not that i'm paying for jodi, i didn't get that much back!)

anyway may brings me doing 4 preschool storytimes, hop in your jammies, a computer info/internet safety class for some brownies (girl scouts), working the first and last weekend, a lunch out with carrie, a planning the shower meeting with kate, my jewelry party (if the girl will ever email me!), a camping trip to payne's prairie, mother's day, aunt susan's bday, bill's bday, cat's graduation (luckily we don't have to attend, cause she isn't walking!), my susan trip, memorial day at the beach with ishu, and the premier of sex and the city 2!!

april fool me

work has been crazy this week. the manager and assistant manager have mostly been gone. that means i've been in charge. i've also been trying to get the summer programs firmed up. plus i get to answer hundreds of questions from my coworkers. today the facilities guys came by to put things together and hang things and it was non stop questions for hours. i will be glad when i'm not in charge tomorrow. the good part of all those questions? i finally got shelves and cabinents and my poster holder. i got to unpack lots of stuff and get a little bit neater and organized.

i have to work this weekend and am not looking forward to it. my back and leg are killing me and being on my feet all weekend isn't going to help. i have to make potato salad tomorrow night, for what i am looking forward to. saturday night the fam is getting together to celebrate dad and mom's birthdays and easter. dad turned 60 on march 25th! old man.

another fun treat for today was when a coworker came in the back and said a kid had puked in the children's area and vomit was not in her job description. i said no problem it was in mine. i went and got some little caution signs and the soak up stuff you sprinkle on yucky stuff and i followed her out to the tree in the kid's area. she pointed around the side, holding her nose and grimacing. and i looked for puke and there was nothing. she said apirl fool's! she got me good.

baby stuff

mom, justin, karen, kate and i headed out quite early this morning to the mecca of baby stuff. we got the gun and started clicking around the store in a counter-clockwise attack. infant care took quite a while. bottles and cups and spoons and bibs and shampoo and lotion and thermometers and nail clippers and wiper warmer and boppy and video baby monitors ($$) and breast pads and nipple butter (seriously what it was called) and burp clothes and teething rings and on and on and on. then we went to justin's favorite the car seats, strollers, bounce seats, jump ups, pack and plays, high chairs and baby carriers.

justin has expensive tastes and likes the blues and greens of the nursery, while karen is paying attention more to price and trying to get some pink/feminine stuff since it is a girl. their theme is the jungle. the nursey has a white chair rail with blue on the top and green on the bottom. sam has painted a massive tree in one corner and so far there is a monkey hanging off. other jungle animals are coming. karen picked out a brown and pink car seat, but looking at their registry online, i see that got changed to a brown and green one. the bouncer is green and brown with monkeys, the jump up is blue and green, i think justin is gonna get the expensive stroller he wants which is navy and karen couldn't find the specific pack and play she wanted. it was fun watching them negotiate. justin is also all about saving the planet, so he wanted to get all the green products. karen is of course also concerned with being green, but only if it isn't insanely more expensive. i think they compromised well.

kate had lots advice of what worked with trey, mom had the expert advice of what she recommends to her wic clients and i was the 'remember the lighter stuff gets dirty quicker' girl. then we went on to the diapers. justin picked out some green huggies. cheaper than the really green ones, but better for the environment than the regular ones. then they eached picked out their diaper bags. they both went for eddie bauer ones. karen's is green and justin's navy. on to furniture. we narrowed it down to three crib sets. cherry, walnut and knotty pine. the cherry was the cheapest, but a bit dark. the walnut had lovely craftman features, which i personally liked the best. the knotty pine was more rustic which goes with new mexican decor in their home. kate in all her brilliance noticed a 50% sign on the knotty pine one. the crib was 1/2 off when you bought the whole set (crib, dresser, changing table). plus if you opened a credit card, you got 15% off the whole set. mom and dad also had given them $300 to buy the crib (which was less than that since it was half off) so when you add it all together that got a great deal! plus the bed is one that can change from crib to toddler to a double. also its sturdy and not babyish, so it could stay with the kid forever. so in the end it was the cheapest set and they ended up ordering it.

by now we were 2/3 done, but the pregnant ladies needed a long rest and some energy. so we headed over to ted's montana grill to eat some bison. i got a philly bison burger. it was very messy and a bit bland, but i also got bison chili and it was amazing! there was some confusion between mom and my tickets and i ended up getting my meal for free! then we hit the store for round 2.

there were four jungle themes for bedding. one was jungle and sports, which looked kinda strange. one was jungle and numbers and letters, which i thought was cute and educational. the third was lots of green and light brown and just jungle animals. the fourth was less babyish jungle animals and had more and darker browns, which mom liked. they agreed on the third one and got most of the accessories with it. then to crib/nursery accessories. sheets and blankets and matresses and crib pads and changing table pads and covers for those too. onto hampers and baskets to organize (green and brown) and stuffed animals (a monkey, giraffe, and gator), a monkey light plate and elephant night light. lots of hangers, a few toys to attach to the stroller and crib. an ocean themed baby gym (they decided not everything had to be jungle. they had picked out ocean stuff and a few elmo things for the bath).

last we hit the clothes. here is where karen finally got some pink. pink and purple and white hats and sleepers and onsies. also green and yellow with animals. pink socks and white ones too. there are some pretty cute outfits but we just got the basics, because people like to pick out what they think is cute and clothes are hard to find off of registrys. all that cuteness almost makes me want a baby. not quite, but it was the most maternal i'd felt in a long time. then we turned the gun in and got a print out of the 18 pages of stuff we'd registerd for. geesh!

on the way home we stopped and got some blasts from sonic. justin paid, so i got a day of entertainment, lunch and dessert for free. what a deal! weird thing, i saw two people from home. one pregnant with her little girl was headed to the bathroom while i was testing out the gliders and the other came into ted's with his parents. granted one just moved there and the other is about to, but come on. 2 hours from home and i still can't get away from people i know. i gotta move!

boy or girl?

have a yucky cold with a nasty cough. i've had bad headaches the last two days, but today that was better. just crazy coughing. last night sam came over and we watched grey's anatomy and had dinner which was fun. this morning i got called in to work. we'd asked for overtime but it hadn't gotten approved til this morning, so i went in to work 11-1 and then i had lunch with karen and justin. then we went to get her sonogram. the baby is so cute. we got to see her from all angles. yes her! she's perfect. then i got to meet the midwife, jane. she is hilarious! she's from scotland so she has an awesome accent and is just so regular. lots of texting and phone calls ensued. so little marisa emma marshall it is. then back to work, home for sushi and internet time, talking to emily and sam on the phone and debra on facebook. now to read myself to sleep so i can be back to work at 8:30. oh crap i gotta go pay rent, i forgot it was the 5th.

kids

library is crazy!! the kids desk is good, but the front is crazy. hopefully next week when we have a normal schedule it will settle down. i'm sick of living out of boxes! i want storage! i want shelves! i want drawers! okay the whining is over now.

we had our first kids programs today. the little ones laptime had 18 people, which was great. then we had wii in the afternoon. it went pretty well. one little girl kind of took over and making everybodies wii. but they weren't too noisy. i just felt bad for a couple kids whose parents made them do homework instead. what mean parents! like homework is more important than playing games :) i have my first preschool tomorrow and it took forever to find the books i wanted in the many boxes in my office. wait that was more whining. here's one more thing, my dryer broke last night. it'll probably be over $200 to fix. luckily suzi let me dry my two loads of wet laundry at her place. actually she let me drop it off, dried it and folded it for me. what a good friend!

can't wait til friday. day off and going to see karen and justin's baby on the sonogram. gonna find out if its a boy or girl. then my roommie is going away for the weekend, so i have the apt to myself. even though i have to work, i get the place to myself for a little while. i'm thinking sushi and a romantic comedy.

i love being a librarian!

just came back from the preview party at the library. we had all the bigwigs and some staff from other libraries there. i worked in the morning trying to get everything cleaned up and my last bulletin board up and then went home and took a nap. feeling refreshed and really nervous, i went back for the party. they were still putting up permenant signage 30 minutes before the party. it was pretty crazy the last couple of days, trying to get everything looking nice, so many little finishing touches. i still don't know where half the stuff is, that organization will come later. but at least it looks good in the public areas.

i got to hang out in the kids area for two hours and talk to mostly strangers about all the cool things in my section. playground, huge life like tree, cute colorful furniture, the whole florida wildlife them, the flat screen tv, kid sized computers. it was good and once i started talking i got over the nervousness and just got excited. i love my job and love that i work for a place that has the ability to do such awesome things. this process has been hard and several times, including today, i've been very frustrated and exhausted, but i look at the finished result and am just so ready to have the kids back and show them all the cool stuff and help them with learning and finding just the right book and doing crafts and playing and being a regular librarian again. i'm so tired of manual labor!

tomorrow we have the grand opening at 2pm, so we'll only be open 3 hours. that should make the first day easier. it will also give me time to find a few more things in boxes that i need. i'm also excited to see what the public thinks. i hope they like it! the most fun though should be going to las margaritas after we close. lots of the staff are going over afterwards and i've been craving mexican all week. yummy!

partying, working, family and accidents

can't believe i haven't written in three weeks. busy at work getting ready for the opening. we packed up the temporary library in 3 hours. i felt like death. over the weekend i went to the olustee festival with my mom and got food poisoning. i was so sick, i couldn't keep anything down, but at least i had my mom to take care of me. having to pack and unpack did not make me feel any better. that night i kept some food down and got lots of sleep, so tuesday i felt much better. i spent the morning getting ready for a work party for birthday people and as a thank you to all the people who helped work on the library. i decorated with valentine stuff from my house and it was a great party. lots of food and fun. the next few days involved fun and not so fun meetings downtown, unpacking, putting in order, shelving and shifting tons and tons of books. i did get to have a yummy lunch out with emily and debra. i had the most delicious salmon salad. i want another one right now! anyway the kids section looks fantastic. they installed this huge life like tree today and we only have one more section of books to shift. sandy, now a volunteer, came in to work on bulletin boards. she got one done, but i can't find the stuff for my two bulletin boards/book displays. that is one of the things i want to get done tomorrow.

on saturday i threw a birthday party for my three sisters and it was a lot of fun. the weather was so beautiful, that we partied oustide on the patio. it was a greek theme. my friends ishu and justin had some people over in january when i was visiting them in orlando and they had hummus and baba ganoush and pita bread and kabobs. it was soooo yummy, so i decided that i wanted to serve it for the girls' birthday party and centered the theme around it and the olympics. the girls got crowns of green leaves. we ate first and my brother in laws said it was so delicious and i should make it for all our get togethers, which is high praise from them. then we played some games. we lit the torches (tiki torches). the birthday girls were team captains and each team had to make a toga on their teammate out of toilet paper. dad helped me judge and keep time with the games. justin spun around so many times he fell over. he and karen came in third on that event. then they had to match the god or goddess with their power. mom and sam won. then we had cheesecake with strawberries or chocolate. and the last event was bobbing for grapes and olives in bowl of water. it was really funny to watch. we had the closing ceremonies where i gave the girls their medals. i made cute medals out of wood cutouts, that i painted and wrote happy birthday on. cat got the bronze and wasn't too happy about it. karen got the silver and sam got the gold. then we went in to open cards. karen brought her heart monitor and we got to listen to the baby's hearbeat. i got to take some tummy pictures too. she started wearing maternity shirts and looks so cute. she lost 17 lbs. during the first trimester and in the last week has gotten over most of the nauseousness. she gained 2 lbs. this week. she looks thinner everywhere, except her baby bump. next friday 3/5, i get to go with karen and justin to her ultrasound to find out the sex of the baby. then all the girls and justin made plans to go to babiesrus to register for baby stuff.

on thursday night i just barely hit someone in a parking lot. basically i left two lines of red of paint on her. she called the police to do a driver information exchange. the girl was nice and the officer was too. she tried to buff it out herself but it didn't work. she got an estimate today and it was $60 to buff it out, but only 50% chance of working. to repaint the door would be $600. we hadn't gotten the insurance company involved, cause i thought i had a $500 deductible. but i called the insurance company today and that only applies to fix my car, i don't have to pay anything for the other girl's car. my car just has two lines of no red paint, so no need to fix it, it's barely noticeable. i am so happy that i don't have to pay up.

with the party i got some cleaning done, but there is always more to do. i planted some pansies on the patio, since the dead looking plants weren't really party like. hopefully they live until spring arrives and i can plant some summer stuff and see what comes back from the horrible freezing weather we've had this year.

brian is doing good on his mission. i got a short email today, but mom got a really long one. i put together an album of the family for him and will send it off this week. i meant to have it done before he left, but the craziness of christmas wasn't conducive to getting it done. it was a little strange not to have him at the party but we know he's were he's supposed to be.

that's a short catch up of what's been going on.

the er floor

my sis karen texted last night at 9:30 that she was going to the er in a great deal of pain. this totally freaked me out because she's 3 months pregnant. she passed out in the er waiting room from pain, so they gave her a gurney to lie on in the waiting room until they could see her. after midnight she got into an exam room and they got some drugs in her to dull the pain. it appeared she had a kidney stone. the baby's heartbeat was fine, but they couldn't do the regular scan to see if it was a stone because of the baby. so they started her on iv fluids to help flush the stone out and gave her something for nausea, because with the pregnancy she has that problem all the time. i was so worried i didn't fall asleep until 4am and then justin called at 5:30 and asked me to met him at their house to get some things for karen and take them back to her, so he could get a few hours sleep and check on the dogs.

i found karen crying just before 7am. the nurse had yelled at her because she couldn't get up to use the bathroom on her own and then when karen asked for a bed pan she was rude about it. she also let her iv go empty for an hour, when she needs as much fluid as she can get so that stupid stone can pass. nursing is one of the very last things i would ever want to do as a career, but yelling at a pregnant, puking, girl in the worst pain of her life is just wrong. fortunately for the nurse, i had arrived at the shift change and she was gone. her new nurse was much nicer and even though the fratboy at the er desk was giving me bs, the nurse gave her pain meds and a new iv when she needed it.

for the next two hours, i got karen in pjs, kept her covered with her quilt, held her hair while she puked, emptied her bedpan, and let her know how much more time until she could get another dose of pain meds. i threw a blanket on the floor and stretched out in between. tile floors are cold. er's are noisy, mostly cause the nurses sit at the desk and yak it up. listening to the drunk girl in the next room was entertaining though. the only thing that got me to smile while there. after her 9am dose of drugs, i hooked up her cpap (breathing machine) in hopes she could sleep until justin came back at 11. then i went home, gave the fam an update and crashed until 1pm.

off to work at 1:30. holy crap the library has been busy! job security is great and all, but why the heck are so many people coming to see us. having to replace the return book bin 2-3 times an hour is just crazy. it was interesting trying to make coherent sentences and sound friendly, when all i wanted to do was curl up under my desk and sleep. at least i got done most of what i needed to and the rest will just have to wait until monday.

came home and got more updates. karen was admitted around lunchtime and has to stay until it passes, but they were able to locate it and it should be able to pass. her midwife came by too and said childbirth would be a walk in the park compared to this and that the baby looked fine. cat and kate's family visited her this afternoon and evening, sam brought justin dinner and then mom came at 9pm to spend the night with her so justin could get some sleep. hopefully they keep her on the meds at the right times and the pain doesn't get any worse. luckily my mom does bitch well, especially when one of her babies is hurt, so karen shouldn't have anymore nurse problems. i'll go see her tomorrow and know more. i complain a lot about my aches and pains, but at least, with the exception of the week before my back surgery, i've never had to deal with that kind of pain. and it only hurt if i tried to sit, it wasn't constant. my surgery was outpatient, so i've never had to spend the night in the hospital as a patient. for all these things, and that the baby is okay, i feel truly blessed.

tiredness

i felt like death most of the day. i haven't been good taking my pills regularly and have had some 2 and 3am nights, so i'm sure that has contributed. i also have been working out again and my whole body just hurts. even thought all i wanted to do was crawl into bed and enter a comatose state, i went to the gym. i did 30 minutes on the elliptical. no water, i've got to remember to bring my water bottle!! hten to cvs to get those pills i've been missing and to publix to get stuff for tomorrow's birthday party at work and chocolate chips so i can make more cookies for those poor souls unpacking the millions of books at the library. bogo's are hard to resist, so of course i spent more than i wanted to, but my cupboards and freezer are stocked full of good foods, that should last at least a month.

despite the fact that i had been so tired, i got my second wind once i reached home. i get all productive as soon as i get to the one place i can crash. weird. i decorated the cake i bought and made spinach dip. then i took it to the library since i have an early meeting downtown and don't have time to run home when its over, because tomorrow is the keith and beth show at the reference des. i also needed my name tag so i can park and get into the building down there. then back home to put away groceries, take out the trash, empty the drainer, wash dishes, water the mostly dead flowers, balance my checkbook, open and organize my many envelopes of bills, and catch up on the facebook and blog. so now here i sit at 11pm, getting very sleepy, just now eating my dinner, which consists of a very yummy pb&j with cold milk. gotta go organize my pills. then - to bed i said.

and now as i go to publish this post, i realize i've written this in the library blog and not my own. i almost shot out all the personal info to the 4 people who follow the library blog. i guess i'm more tired than i thought.

fun and productivity

orlando was good. friday night justin had to do a work dinner, so olive, ishu and i went to izziban sushi. there were only three waitresses for the whole place and the bartender was also the busboy and host, so even though there were empty tables they weren't sitting people. my diet pepsi tasted funny, so i tried sierra mist, nada, water it was. it only took 20 mintues to get that figured out. the appetizer wasn't good and one of my sushi rolls was really salty. olive was not happy to be there. she bit her styrofoam glass of water and it exploded all over the table. it took forever to get the waitress to clean it up, while olive smacked the table to make water splash. she didn't want to sit in her high chair or eat. she had her 18 month check up that day and we figure the shot they gave her was making her grumpy. she's usually so good in restaurants. after that memorable meal we met justin at home and then went to twisty treat. is was a long drive, but was very yummy.

the next day i slept in late, watched roman holiday for the first time (so good!!) and then ishu made chilli for lunch. justin cleaned the garage and prepped our greek feast while ishu and i ran errands. she had things to return and we hunted down some glassware she wanted for her birthday. we found half of them in tjmaxx and half in ross. the lines were horrible!! we got a snack at chic fil a, which i've eaten at only once, like ten years ago. the salad was good. scrapbooking stuff was 40% off at joann's so i stocked up on birthday stuff. debra and i are making birthday cards for the library this weekend.

when we got home justin had made kebabs and two couples came over. one were people from church who use to live in gainesville that i haven't seen in forever and the other a high school friend of justin's. his fiance is from amsterdam and she had this lovely accent. we had spinach dip and pita bread with hummus as appetizers and then chicken, steak and veggie kebabs with wheat pitas and baba ganuoush. i never had it before and didn't know it was eggplant. it was such a yummy meal. then we played catch phrase, scene it and scattegories. monkey bread for dessert and then i got olive all wound up before putting her to bed. once the couples left, ishu gave me a pedicure.

i slept in again! we had leftover greek food for breakfast and then they got ready for church and i packed up. ishu gave me my christmas present. she designed and made me a bag for my crocheting. it has pockets inside for the hooks and is brown with flowers. she is sooo creative. once i was home it was reading and naptime. then the golden globes in between desperate housewives and brothers and sisters.

today i met carrie at the gym and we did a stretch class and then some cardio. the class is taught by a library patron and she gave me a shout out in the class and said how much she loved acld. then we went to bageland for lunch and exchanged christmas gifts. home to read and nap and then emily came over to borrow some stamps. she had the boys with her and they were a little wound up from their playdate. they had fun writting on me with a sharpie and themselves with a highlighter. i started it my wrighting on myself. i'm such a bad example. then the squealed bloody murder in front of my apartment and were gone. they are crazy but fun!

then i got productive. dishes washed, healthy dinner made and eaten, room cleaned, apartment vacuumed, bed made and craft table organized. watched castle with the roommate. love love love that show! now catching up on email, facebook and the blogs. tomorrow we start unpacking the storage of what will one day be my library again. oh the work in store. 2am and time for bed!

boys are dumb

i only worked half a day today! sam chauffered me to work and then went to my uncle bob's to clean out her car. the insurance company finally looked at it and claimed it totalled and is sending her a check for $1600! that should help with the buying of a new car. she picked me up after work and then we ran errands. bank, pay rent, return and exchange clothes at the mall, lunch, pick up part of my outfit for the church dance tonight, and take sam to rent a car. now why after a whole week of sharing my car with sam, do my parents decide to go ahead and pay for a rental? dad and brian were in town for brian's last appt with his dietician (he has a genetic disease that is managed by a low protein diet), so dad came over to sign the papers and sam got this cute burnt orange kia. my entire car was filled with all the crap sam carries around in her car, so we transferred that in the rain and a home i went.

now did i take off early to run errands. no of course not. i did it to come clean my house and get ready for the dance tonight. the cleaning for the house guest i was supposed to have this weekend. the dance i was supposed to have a date for. tim and i have been having weekly phone conversations on wednesday nights for a little over a month. we talk for hours! i talked to him the night before thanksgiving. we talked about his visit. i asked him if he was really coming and he said of course. so i call this wednesday no answer. normal, usually i call and he calls back a few minutes later. an hour later i call and leave a message. nothing. thursday night i just ask him to call so i can make plans for my weekend, doesn't matter whether he's coming or not, i'd just like him to call and tell me either way. still nothing. had a slight hope that he would just show up today. no.

so either he's dead (i hope not), he lost his phone (he doesn't have my number written down, but he could have gotten the library's number off the internet) or he changed his mind about coming and didn't want to hurt my feelings. there is of course the fact the maybe he's just a dick and has been jerking me around, but the tim of my past wasn't like that so i'm hoping that's not true. the weird thing is that he is the one who initiated this whole coming to see me thing. he even wanted to come next weekend too. so now i'm wondering if i'll here from him again. and if i do what his excuse will be. oh well, everything works as it should. we broke up for good reasons and this weekend could have been fun, but it would just have made my life more complicated.

i thought about going to the dance, but when i came home i got into my long comfy nightgown and some christmas socks and read myself to sleep. i woke up 30 minutes before the dance and just didn't feel like getting all gussied up and then driving across town in the cold and rain. samantha went and had a pretty good time and won a door prize. a basket full of gift certificates (walmart), coupons (for twilight stuff from torrid and hot topics) and lotion. plus her favorite resturant olive garden catered. my roommate and i ended up watching 4 episodes of castle. she bought the 1st season yesterday. which stinks because that was what i was gonna get her for christmas. funny thing is she thought about giving it to me for christmas! that would have been hilarious if we both opened the same thing come christmas eve! so now i gotta come up with something else.

tomorrow, i was going to take tim to the sugar cane thing at dudley farm and then to watch the gator game with friends. now i get to sleep in, maybe scrapbook, run to publix for spinach dip ingredients and then go watch the gator game with my friends. it's gonna be an intense game! i so hope we win it!! gotta work sunday, have a program on winter. we are making cute penguins out of different sized heart shapes. and i'm working with the new guy, keith. i haven't got to talk to him much yet. he's been in his office a lot. he doesn't know how to do circ, so he hasn't really been scheduled to the desk. i need to teach him some circ stuff, but it is kinda weird to teach the guy who got the job i was up for, how to do basic stuff. then i have monday off (and now that i don't have tim plans, bitter much?) i guess i'll work for dad and decorate for christmas.

here's hoping that i have a fun, productive weekend and the gators kick butt!

nothing like having a frozen butt for 3 days

so thanksgiving was great. the weather was magnificent. everybody behaved. i got to carve my first turkey. karen did two 15 pounders this year. one in the oven and one in their rotisserre (spelling?) they were both juicy and delicious. i was good and used a small plate and didn't get seconds. we played cards and justin shattered a frisbee. he and brian were playing in the front yard and he hit the tree right in front of him and that thing shattered into twenty pieces just like glass. we found pieces all over the yard. it was hilarious!

that night i went back to the parents and helped pack the camper and played some wii with brian. i also fell on the kitchen steps and skinned up my knee marvelously (i am such a klutz!) my parents don't have central heat, so i snuggled up in what i could and went to bed. around 4am i woke up freezing, with some of my extremities numb. i dragged a portable heater into the room put it on high and grabbed the quilt my mom just made for my sister (who won't get it until christmas). my mom woke me up the next morning and took a picture because i looked like an eskimo. i had borrowed my brother's hoodie and had my cpap machine on and all you could see where eyes. it was a funny pic, that i'm still deciding whether to put on facebook.

the drive was short, i asked mom questions from the life story book i got for her and heard great stories from her childhood. then brian and i played war til we got there. it was very breezy, but a beautiful cold sunny day. we set the camper up and then helped karen and justin set up their tent and watched the five mintues it took for my aunt susan and her boyfriend gary to plug in their rv. half us explored the lake, i offered to take the pups, boy do they have a lot of energy. we played minature golf and card games and then got the fire going for hot dogs. when the sun went down we all had to add layers. justin even put on a long sleeve shirt. we tease him, cause he loves the cold and usually is in shorts and tshirts for it. i acutally saw him put on jeans and a long sleeved shirt for a little bit. after hot dogs we made sore thumbs over the fire. my aunt brought the ingredients and showed us how. you take a thick stick and some crescent roll dough and wrap it around the end of the stick and seal it shut on the end. then you dip the dough in sugar and you cook it over the fire. after about 5 minutes you take it off and put pudding in the pocket. she had chocolate and vanilla and you know which one i picked. they were so good! i don't know if the sore thumb is the burning your fingers when you pull the roll off or that it looks like a fat, black tinged thumb on the end of the stick once it's cooked. it was soon too cold to even be right up next to the fire, so the adults went to bed and the kids went to the tent. karen is pregnant and having evening sickness, so she just layed on the 'bed' and justin, brian and i played games. karen hates the cold and had sealed the tent up with red duct tape and plugged in two little electric heaters, so it was pretty warm in the tent.

the next morning karen and justin made french toast and scrambled eggs and sausage. see we camp with electric skillets and microwaves. the most rough thing we do, is use the state park bathrooms and showers, at least the people not in the rv. after breakfast mom, susan and gary went exploring in the jeep, dad took a nap (his cpap broke as soon as we got there so he was getting horrible sleep), brian and i did a short hike and played games, and justin, karen and the pups went on a 5 mile hike. it was cool weather, but the sun kept coming in and out and with the hiking and sitting, we kept having to add and remove layers of clothing. kind of annoying. we played rummikub, the new monopoly card game (so fun!), and yahtzee. i got, no lie, 3 yahtzees in one game. i have never had 3. i usually never get any. needless to say, i won. after turkey sandwiches, we played more minature golf and then set up the tv for the game. yes we camp with television (it's only like 9") and this park had cable hook ups. during half time there was more golf (we love it!) and then a great win over our biggest rivals! susan brought ham for dinner and mom made some scrumptious shanty potatoes. with the addition of thanksgiving leftovers we had a feast. it was after dark by then, so it was a half cold feast but very good nonetheless. then we huddled around the fire and watched 'the holiday'. yes the tv has a dvd player. it got me in the christmas mood, which was the only thing keeping my backside warm. i was so close to the fire, i melted the bottoms of my shoes. we were all so full from dinner no one wanted the smores, except brian, but teenage boys never get full. to the camper for more games and then bed.

sunday was a bit warmer. we had eggs and sausage and grands biscuits for breakfast. then more golf. every single one of us got at least one hole in one during the three days! justin had two games where he got 3 of them. turkey and ham sandwiches were eaten and then sadly it was time to start packing up, we didn't want to arrive home in the dark. susan and gary, being in real estate and retired, create their own schedules, so they stayed another night and watched us pack it all up. rv's are so easy! brian, mom and i snored all the way home and dad had to keep us on the road all by himself. it was a really good trip, despite being really cold (i tried packing light and didn't bring enough clothes!) and justin being rather annoying (he wouldn't shut up about those crazy kids camping next to us, he was more bothersome than they were). it's the last time i'll camp with brian, which is sad, cause usually its just mom, dad, brian and me. and it just won't be as fun without him there. now that karen's done with school, hopefully she and justin can come on more camping trips. sam's new job is tues-sat, so she probably won't be able to come to many still, maybe weekends when monday is a holiday. so that's it for my thanksgiving weekend. now all the many, many things to do in december! i'm tired already.

the search for the missing phone

oh what a day! yesterday i realized i couldn't find me phone. i was at work so sandy called it, no ringing. i figure i've left it at home. that night my roommate called me phone, no ringing. not just for me to here, but no ringing at all. my phone was going straight to voice mail. so either it's dead, or i dropped somewhere, and whoever has it has turned it off. either way, not good. well like the crazy person i am i watched the dancing with the stars finale (yeah donny!) and reruns and scrapbooked (i finished another park! 2 to go) and stayed up way too late. 3am to be exact. so when my alarm went off wed morning, i of course hit snooze. at 10:10 i realized how late it was and jumped out of bed. i was supposed to be at the chiropracter at 10:15. i threw on clothes and brushed my teeth (i mean no one deserves to face my morning breath). i was only 5 minutes late (no i didn't speed, his office is down the street from me).

so that painfulness over i went to joanne's and found scrapbooks 40% off and several cute pregnancy stickers. i also got what i went in for, scrapbook extenders and a box of mounting squares (tape for scrapbooking). i also ran into people i knew and had a nice chat. then on to publix. only 4 carts left. did i mention it was cold and rainy? luckily i got the last of the dry carts. the place was packed but everyone was so friendly and nice. i had two guys make jokes about all the chex cereal i was buying (chex mix is a thanksgiving must at our house). lots of good bogo sales too. i got into a short line, amazing! as i was returning my cart to the covered sidewalk (my sister use to work for publix, and i know the pain of hunting down carts, especially in the rain) , when some guy in a big white van that i've just walked past, yells to me that i need to watch where i'm going. i wasn't positive he was talking to me, but then he said it again louder. so i ignored him and then he said hey don't ignore me. by the time i got in my car, i realized it was someone i knew, not just some crazy looney. i saw the van across the parking lot and it was a library van! one of our systems guys was driving it. now of course i felt bad, but what i was really hoping was that if he was in the area, maybe he was going to the library to fix our patron printer (it's been broken since sunday and makes for not happy customers).

so then i went to the library to hunt for my phone there and to use a phone to call people and tell them i lost my phone. no luck (except there was a systems guy there working on the printer!) i chatted a few minutes and then ran into a woman i used to work with at uf. i told her about losing my phone and said she had one in the car she was about to go donate. so i went downstairs with her and got a free verizon phone. she told me how to switch my number to it without even having to call verizon. very cool. then i dashed home to put cold stuff in the fridge and went to cat's. she'd just finished the first batch of pumpkin bread and so i started the chex mix.

then we get a call from karen saying sam has been in a car accident. no one was hurt, but it was her fault and she was very upset. karen and justin were on the way to rescue her. she had to have her car towed, cause she crumpled the front, but the other women's car was fine. it was her first accident and i felt really bad, because she of course tried to call me on my lost phone. but the lady was nice, the cop was nice, and it all took less than an hour, so it wasn't too horrible. and since i'm going camping this weekend and she has to stay in town to work, she can have my car.

back to the chex mix! i haven't made it in awhile, so i had fun bugging cat every few minutes with questions. she started working on a quilt for my grandma. we spent the afternoon quilting (she pieced and sewed and i ironed and ripped out mistakes), cooking (3 batches of chex mix and another one of pumpkin bread) and of course chatting. i also searched my car for the missing phone. i ended up with a bag full of garbage and 2 tubes of concealer (i keep losing it and buying more and then losing the new one), but no phone. bill came home and then we had a nice salad for dinner and i was off again.

i got home to an awful smell. i took out the trash and it still wasn't better, so i sprayed disinfectant and went to my room. time to search my bedroom for the infamous phone. i pulled the bed from my wall, i pulled out everything from under it. nothing. then to my night stand. several months ago the bottom of the top drawer broke and everything in the top drawer landed in or behind the bottom drawer. which basically means it was a big mess that i've been ignoring. i dug everything out, fixed the night stand, threw away a bunch of crap, and organized it. still no phone. onto the my desk. nada. then to the living room. rip all the cushions off the love seat. start throwing out things i find and announcing them to my roommate who is cooking yummy seafood dip for thanksgiving (she's coming to karen's with me). hair clips, plastic fork, bubble wrap, jolly rancher, but no phone. i start to pull cushions off the couch, when my roommate asks me if i prayed about it. silly me, i hadn't thought of that. she makes me sit down and she says a prayer that i'll find my phone. then i start in on the couch. 30 seconds later i find the phone way back in the couch. talk about prayers answered! i started jumping around i was so happy! then i had a thank you prayer and put the living room back in order.

i was in a pretty darn good mood the rest of the night. i washed my dishes (i think my meat loaf pan was causing the stench). then i started packing for the camping trip. i called tim. i've been talking to him wed nights, because there's no shows i like that night and it gives me something to do. in my night stand search i came across my headphone/mic for my phone so i was able to keep packing while we talked. i organized all my jewelry and the top of my dresser too. i was on a cleaning high or something. we had a really nice talk, last time we got too deep into religion and he got a bit upset. this time we kept it light and fun. i finally finished packing at 1:30am and said goodnight. now it's 2:30 and here i am blogging. mostly because i wanted to get the crazy day down, because i most likely won't be able to blog until sunday night when i get back from our camping trip. i'm way looking forward to it, because the high is 60 and the low 37! i love cold snuggly weather. we'll have a fire, and do smores and drink hot chocolate and play games and just have a great last camping trip with brian before he leaves. okay, time to get some sleep so i can have the energy to consume all that turkey and veggies and pie!

using my talents and my lack there of

so i actually was productive saturday night. i did 3 loads of laundry and put it away as soon as each load was done. amazing! i downloaded audacity and recorded like 7 songs and they sound pretty darn good. i also read a whole book (it was really short, but still).

sunday was church and teaching sunday school. when i was ready to start i had 1 student. i had to go round up people talking in the hallway. it went pretty well. this sunday school thing is harder than i thought, but in a different way. i was afraid of it being all deep and heavy into the scriptures and i feel very inadequate in my knowledge of doctrine. but the lesson plan is really excellent and it is almost too easy. it's covering stuff everybody already knows. so it makes it hard not to be boring. i spice it up with a game and food and stories, but being in front of people doesn't come natural to me. i've learned how to do it. luckily i have friendly faces among my students and just call on them and they do their best to say something. the biggest thing is that it's me that is getting the most out of these lessons. not the teaching, but the learning. i spent two hours preparing for that lesson and read great scriptures and stories and it reminded me of ways i can be a better person. i think that's the point of most of the callings in church.

after church i went to see singin' in the rain with suzi. it was great. there was yummy finger food before hand and the show had real rain. well the fire alarm spickets went off during that number and then came intermission where the crew used a wet/dry vacuum to clean it up. the singing was great and there was lots of dancing (tap!) and kissing. more than i think i've ever seen in one of gcp's shows. after that i went home and read. i was supposed to go to suzi's at 6:30 to scrapbook with her and emily. at 7:20 my alarm went off. i thought, why is my alarm set for 7:20am? i don't have to be anywhere on monday morning until 9:30. wait, that's not the alarm, that's my phone. and suzi's name is flashing on it. oh crap, i fell asleep. it's not morning, it's still sunday night. she and emily had fun laughing at me and told me to get my butt over there. so we scrapbooked (i actually finished 4 pages!) and gabbed of course. then i went home and finished organizing my craft table, well except for the paper. i went through all my stickers (and i have tons!!) and separated them into categories and put them away in my handy dandy sticker binder. only three more parks to scrapbook and my 'ga 2008 camping trip' scrapbook will finally be complete.

monday was the chiropracter, my leg and back are bothering me, stupid sciatic. on the way i threw up. i got about half out of the door which i flung open while almost stopped at a red light and the other half i got on my shirt. i hadn't eaten anything so it wasn't too gross, but still. luckily i had time after my appointment to go home and take another shower and change clothes before i had to be at work. oh the exciting life i lead!

slow saturday

how do you like the new look? thought a change was in order. i know fall is almost over, but i figure that'll give me an excuse to change it again for winter/christmas. i needed something to do at work that looked like work, without having to leave my desk. i'm working again this weekend. just today, filling in for sandy, but i worked the whole first weekend of november then last sunday and now today. i'm tired of not having a weekend. this next weekend will be lots of fun camping, but still no me time. i have wednesday off for working today. but i have a dr app and then baking with cat. gotta make chex mix for thanksgiving and camping. she's in charge of pumpkin pies and i'm gonna try to get her to make her delicious pumpkin bread and cookies, so i can snag some for the trip.

tonight i have no plans except laundry. i started editing pics from the last few months last night, but fell asleep a little after 6pm. hopefully i'll finish that and then get them posted to facebook. it would also be great if could download audacity to my computer and try recording a song. but i don't know if i'll be that energetic. i have to teach sunday school tomorrow, so i should probably prepare. i've got the fun part done, just need to get some kind of treat for the winners, but i need to read over the rest.

today has been a slow saturday. the game started at 12:30 so that keeps people away. but we are playing a joke of a team and it's on ppv, so i figured not as many people would watch it. but when you are an undefeated, awesome team like us, i guess you gotta watch. i'm keeping track with gamecast on espn.go.com. we are only in the 2nd but its 28-0, so i think we've got it in the bag.

things to look forward to

this week has been draggin by. work has been kinda boring after all the excitement of the float, getting the cookbook done and the flurry of nervousness that went with the applying for a new job. luckily tomorrow i don't have to go to the library. i have training in orange park and get to learn cool new techno stuff. i do have to work the weekend, but the weather is beautiful out and there is a game in town, so maybe people will stay out of the library. best part is that with veteran's day, i get three days off in a row! and next weekend is gonna be great with time in orlando with lots of friends and family.

tonight i went to hear a friend play in the sf college jazz band. he sang on one of the songs too and he was just so cool. what it must be like to just be comfortable and confident and talented in front of so many people. anyway, it was really good. unf's jazz band was there too and they were amazing! its great to be in a town that always has something going on. if only i wasn't so busy or tired to do them. church is starting up a choir again, and hopefully i can join. they are supposed to be doing the practices sunday evenings, so even when i work weekends, i can attend. something about singing in a group, stretching myself to hit notes and hold notes and take big breaths and make a beautiful noise, is just so fun! plus i love when just the guys sing, it makes my knees weak :)

speaking of guys, last month i had a bad dream about an ex boyfriend and it really freaked me out. so i got on facebook, found him, and messaged him to make sure he was doing ok. we haven't talked in about three years and haven't seen each other in 4, i think. anyway we've messaged back and forth a couple times, just catching up with what our families are doing and the big stuff that's happened. today, he asked me to call him so we could talk. then he said he had some days off he has to use by the end of december or lose them. he's coming to town in december but has no set days and wants to know when i might be free. this message happens to come the day after i found out the date for the winter formal at church. would it be weird to see if he could come that weekend and be my date? do i want to be friends with him again? a different ex called last week and want's me to call him. he lives in arkansas and i'd be friends with him, but after an unexpected marriage proposal, i just can't go back to being phone buddies. why can't i get a new guy? wondering what to do . . .

oh crap it's after midnight and i have to be up at 6. i guess the thing to do is sleep on it.

being sick=reading+sleeping+little productivity

a few things got accomplished this weekend. right now i'm blogging from bed, so that means, yes you've got it . . . my laptop now connects to the interent! thank you daddy. he gave me a new router that's faster and smaller (more needed desk space) so i'm up and running, or i guess the computer is, i'm lying down.

thursday's sneezing and the tickling in the back of my throat, turned into fogginess in the brain by friday night and full on sick the rest of the weekend. sam dragged me out for moe's and whip it friday night, so that helped dull the pain. whip it was soooo much fun, you should go see it. sat i got the times wrong for the broadcast, when you're sick translating time zones is no easy task, so i slept through the first one. my roommate and i watched the second sat session and the sunday sessions. i crocheted while i listened, so i got one and half scarves finished. plus i heard good things to help motivate me to do better.

the rest of the weekend i slept and read the gabaldon book. monday i was still feeling yucky, so i stayed home. i guess i got too much sleep, because i couldn't fall asleep monday night and just read til 5:30am. i had an early meeting, so just got up and went in early (its so weird going to work when its dark). i finished the gabaldon book, which was good, but it left soooo many loose ends. it took her three years to write this one, it'll probably be five before she does book 7. so frustrating! but i'm judging a romance writer's contest for the second year in a row and have only read one of the five books. i stopped to read gabaldon's book so i could get it to the next person in line (what a good librarian i am). now i'm on book two. they are light, fluffy paperback romances. the current one is 'inspirational' so there is lots of praying and God talk mixed in with the story. its nice. i've read plenty of mormon fiction, so i'm use to it, but its interesting to see how writers not of my faith portray God and religion in their work. the cool thing is that i get to keep the books and they are autographed by the authors. they aren't my kind of book, but my aunt and grandma asked for books for christmas, specifically used books, due to these financial times, and here are perfectly good, once read books i can give as gifts!

i got laundry done too, but that's all. not very productive, but i'm blaming the sickness. this weekend i'm not gonna get anything done either. maybe friday night i'll go through stuff for a yard sale and put laundry away. saturday i'm going to orlando with the parents and then hopefully watching the gator game with friends. then church sunday morning, a nap and dinner at my friend carrie's to celebrate her bday (got to get to joanne's so i can finish her gift!) i've applied for a higher position at the library and i have my test tuesday, so i need to do a little studying for that somewhere in there. oh and rest up for next week. i have to work 7 days in a row and have lots to do at the library. plan and present my halloween program. decorate the library float for the homecoming parade. decorate the library for halloween. do the schedules for the next week. figure out where to store all the donations while the big friends of the library sale is going on. and finish things that might not get done tomorrow, such as interviewing the intern applicant (i had to cancel mon from being sick and she cancelled today from being sick) and write up and submit purchase requisitions for bookmarks and stickers. you wouldn't believe how patrons get about bookmark and sticker choices. they ask for different ones if i don't have out something they like. they're free! why are you complaining? i digress.

so now i'm gonna read a little bit of my inspirational romance and then sleep on my bare matress cause i just did three more loads of laundry (and i never put away the two i did this weekend, i told you i hate it!) and i'm too lazy to put the clean sheets back on. i only got as far as the pillowcase. i really need a maid.

the chores of life

three whole days of no plans except for church. granted church this weekend is special. there are 8 hours of broadcasts from salt lake for me to enjoy. luckily the internet is wonderful and i can watch them in my pjs. however sunday i'm gonna to church to watch them with some friends and have yummy food. too much sitting but wonderful speakers and messages and singing that makes me feel good.

i have sooooo many things i want to do this weekend that have been put off. wash my car, inside and out, there is an odor developing from probably some kind of leftover food. laundry, the task that never gets done. if only i could just have old navy ship me new clothes each week, so i would never have to put clothes away, i hate it! clean up my craft table. right now the table is buried in a foot high mess of craft stuff. papers, markers, pictures, stamps, stickers, ribbon, ink pads, scissors, etc. are sliding off the edges. my desk. oh the scariness. i have 6 boxes and a laundry basket full of things that need to be gone through, tossed or put away in my desk. i'm afraid. when this is done, i can go through the mound of paid bills (i pay everything online, but still get the bills in paper form) that need to be organized and put away in the desk too. its only about 9 months worth. i need to decorate for halloween. and i have mucho stuff to hang and put out. i need to crochet some scarfs for this silent auction i'm helping with at work to raise money for the united way. i need to finish my friend's bday gift, which requires 1 trip to joann's and about an hours more work. i need to make my christmas list to give to my sis. i want books mostly, but i need to go through my bookshelves (which of course are in a bit of disarray) and figure out what i have and what i want. i need to pay my bills (payday!!) and figure out if i can live off what's left.

i think that's about it. oh wait, i need to work on websites for my dad. i took that class and then haven't done a thing with it. oh the guilt. i finally did go out and work for him on monday. washing dishes, scrubbing the bathroom, vaccumming etc. then he made me dinner, that was nice. i told him i'd come friday too, but he's coming to town for a dr appointment, and i asked him to swing by and fix my wireless. my roommate's laptop will connect, but mine and several other people who've come over can't get the internet to work. i would have an easier time with doing the website if i could sit in bed or on the couch. my back doesn't like to sit in a chair after a day of work.

so here's hoping i can actually get some of this stuff done. because i know there is no way i'll get to all of it. especially when i'm only on page 58 of 824 of the new diana gabaldon book. yup, not much is gonna get done at all :)

being a lazy bum

i don't want to do much of anything lately, including blog. i had a pretty good trip with my family to the georgia mountains. too much fighting, but some good relaxing. i'm tired. i am blah since the big 3-0. my fav thing to do lately is lay in bed and read. i have totally been flaking out on my job with my dad. i finished the website class last month and haven't done one thing to spruce up the websites he has. i was supposed to work for him monday and friday this week since i had off from the library, but instead i slept in (today until 3:30pm!) and read. i haven't been to the gym either. i need some motivation to get off my butt and do stuff that's good for me.

i'm going to kate's tomorrow to watch florida beat the tar out of tennessee. that will be fun. the first two games, i was out of town or working. football games at kate and jd's are the best! maybe i'll get a free movie out of sam afterwards.

i need to get some craft projects done. i'm almost finished with a cross stitch project, that needs to be done the first of october. then i need to do some major scrapbooking. then i have to finish crocheting a blanket for my sister. its a little over half done. its for her graduation in april, so i think it'll be okay.

i also have to plan a trip to go up to pennsylvania and get my grandma. another sister is graduating in december and grandma is coming for that and christmas. she won't fly alone, so i go get her and she pays. i love free vacays! i'm trying to get one out of my parents for when my brother goes to utah to start his mission for the church.

i've got to start thinking of a halloween costume. any ideas?

being young and having fun

after many questions into my emtional and mental status from my last post, i'm here to say i'm feeling better (drugs are good) and am ready to inform you of all the wonderful things i've been doing lately.

so 2 weekends in orlando were lots o fun. ishu and justin are lovely to let me stay with them. and little olive is so funny and cute. dinner at justin's parents was delicious. i can now say that the best ribs every made are by justin's mom. we went to the craft show at the convention center. it was packed and i picked up a few things for dirt cheap, like i only spent $2.50 total. then we went to buca di beppo for a scrumptious lunch. i had gnocchi for the first time and it was great! the rest of the weekend was relaxing and running errands and i tried to play ghostbusters on the wii, but, let's face it, i'm not that good. my hands have troubles trying to do 4 things at once.

then two days of work with lots of programs at a center near downtown. the kids were older up to 12 years old, so i was a bit nervous. i took the two library interns with me. they totally didn't think i could get the older kids to do some silly songs with me. the kids loved it! the second day they wanted to do more! so it went well and the director wants me to come back in the fall for afterschool programs. i had sunday storytime today. we did the zoo. it was fun and the paper bag puppets were really cute. the weekend was not too busy, which is always good.

i went to my best friend kate's and jenifer's (her older sister by exactly 4 years) bday party last tuesday night and then stayed with my parents. brian and i played wii. he taught me star wars, again with my hands doing 4 things at once. i basically just push all the buttons and shake my hands around, and i finally beat him after like 10 games. then working for dad and getting my hair cut and highlighted, it looks mahvelus. lunch with sam and brian, fixed my broken car lights and some more wii with mom and brian. i'm really gonna miss him when he goes on his 2 year mission for the church, probably starting in october.

i finished my web class last thursday. i was taking the exam at 1am when i spilled a glass of water on my keyboard. luckily the keyboard is fine, but i submitted the exam only half done, getting a 53. i retook it and got a 100, but i couldn't get the certificate of completion because you have to have a 70 and they only except the first submission. after several emails up the food chain, i finally got someone with power and they mailed the certificate right away. now i just have to use those skills and make real websites!

so last week/weekend was all about being a bridesmaid. thursday i did laundry, gave a pedicure, and made a scrapbook of baby pics for the bride. then friday afternoon down to orlando i went. stopped by cvs first to pic up a prescription and realized i had no wallet. luckily this happened or i would have ended up in orlando with no license, money, or my temple recommend (which i needed to be at the wedding). to the church i went and decorating commenced. the men did the white lights drapped from the ceiling and we girls put on tablesclothes, made up flower vases for the center of tables, put out favors, put lights up along the walls, and arranged things. then the wedding party practiced the thriller dance we would perform during the reception. crazy! then to brent's house for sonny's and the making of the bridesmaid bouquets. back to ishu and justin's for chatting and bed.

the next morning ishu did my hair (she straightened it and it looked spectacular) then off to the temple. i was running a bit behind and so i did about 70 through orlando. the speed limit was mostly 45. thank goodness i didn't get pulled over. i made it 10 minutes before it started. got in the wrong elevator, then couldn't get out of the right one. the door opens on both ends and i was facing the wrong way. i hate those elevators that open in the front and back. i never know what i'm doing. anyway the ceremony was beautiful. then we took pictures outside. it was a gorgeous day, but about 100 degrees. sweating everywhere, we took pics for 45 minutes. then off to the church to boss people around. as head bridesmaid i did a lot of bossing around, it was fun! we did a ring ceremony and the reception was fun. brent wrote carrie a song and performed it (he's a music major, so it was good stuff) and they drove off to animal kingdom (a surprise for her). i checked their mail and left a lasagna in the fridge for their return.

after the clean up, which went way fast, i raced back to ishu and justin's so they could take me out for my bday dinner. we went to opa, a greek resturant which was awesome. the food was great, the atmosphere was loud music, a belly dancer and general craziness. i was yanked from my chair twice to dance, once all around the room, holding the hands of hot men. i also was pulled onto a table and sang happy birthday too. what a day!! sunday to church with the 4 year olds they teach, those are some funny little kids. then a nap and home. on the way i got pulled over for doing 83 in a 70. i had another wedding guest catch a ride with me and we were talking and i hadn't set the cruise control and anyway, i got a warning! i was sooo happy. either he thought meghan was way cute (which she is) or he saw that i've never had a speeding ticket (i know, amazing isn't it?), so i'm really glad that a) i fixed my broken taillight and blinkers the wednesday before (thanks brothers) and b) i had stopped at cvs and had to go back for my wallet, lest i had no license or proof of insurance for the trooper. as soon as i got home i ran in my apt, grabbed my scrapbooking stuff and headed to suzi's, where i mostly talked and got very little scrapbooking done. it was a wonderful week, but so tiring and my feet have just recovered from all that running around and standing.

this week has been slower, but involved a lot of being lazy, my clothes are clean but still sitting in baskets, my dishes are washed, but still piled in the drainer, my room has been cleaned once, but is back to a disaster. i've been going through my stuff looking for correspondence with my great aunt louise. she died two years ago and the nursing home people got her to sign a new will that left the money to them and a church she never went to. so my aunt susan has been battling it in court and she needs proof that we had a relationship with her. i found cards and letters she's written. my dad has a box of cards and letters from us that he found in her apartment when they cleaned it out. however, he doesn't know where the will is that he took from her apartment. the one that says we get everything. that is one of my missions tomorrow when cleaning his shop. must find 2003 will. i don't think i'm gonna find it as my parents have both looked, but maybe a miracle will happen.

a friend is retiring from work and a scrapbook is in the works. i went to emily's last night to work on my pages, while she worked on her interview for a job at the downtown library. i hope she gets it, but i'll miss her so much if she goes. i did better on scrapbooking this time, it took four hours, but i got the 2 pages done. obviously a lot of talking and goofing off occurred. i'm working on getting my grandma here for my sister's graduation and christmas, so i had a nice long chat with her. and i just got off the phone with my last roommate who now lives in utah. it was good to catch up with her, especially since she just finished her first summer as a full time mom to her new husband's three girls. i also found out that she's trying to get prego. so many people doing that, one sister (soon to be two), kate, and now julie. i'm hoping that i get to see her when my brother goes to utah in october. i'm gonna try to hitch a ride with him and my parents.

okay this is a way long post and it is now 1:30 in the morning. luckily i'm just working for dad tomorrow and i'm not expected til afternoon. my bday's wednesday, the big 3-0. i only have to work tuesday and friday, so this week will probably be relaxing and fun. only 13 days til our georgia vacay!!!