Fairies, Big Toys, and Cliffs Notes

So, I was going to do my Things Your Waitress Won't Tell You, but I'm not functioning very well right now and I only got to number two and realized I was rambling. So we'll try for next time with that.

My baby is sick. *Sad face* I'm fairly certain we got colds after having that virus, and since she was a lucky bug and escaped the virus, she got slammed by the cold. She's got huge dark circles under her eyes and they're red and puffy, her nose is running like a train and she's just as ornery as a bear. I'm keeping her loaded up on kid's ibuprofen and nighttime cough and cold, but she's still having a hard time. One of her favorite movies is Polar Express, which she endearingly calls "Choo choo" but I hardly let her watch it because there's just something sacreligous about watching Christmas movies when it's not Christmas, but I've let her watch it as much as she wants today. Which is, like, 8 times. At least. I was at work this morning, so who knows. I'm hoping her cold wasn't made worse by playing outside the other day.

We spent the night at my parent's house and they live right across from the elementary school, so we all went over and played on the Big Toy for about an hour or so. We're talking 4 adults, two over the age of 40, a 17 year old, then 3 kids from 10 to 2. Us adults discovered via the monkey bars and zip line that we have muscles that have lain dormant for a good 10 to 20 years! I'm sure it was a riot to see us all playing around. My daughter was having a ball climbing up the slide and going down, and climbing up, and going down over and over. My littler sister was climbing everything, my other older sister was trying to simultaneously hold onto the dog (a very spazzy miniature American Eskimo named Miko) and jump on the tires in the sand box. My mom was alternating between spinning on the twirly stool-looking things and testing the zip line. My dad was busy crashing himself into the rest of the big toy while testing the zip line and helping my daughter climb back up the slide. My hubby was everywhere getting into everything, particularly the toy that's like a log in the water that you run on and try not to fall off. My brother was climbing around on the big tires in the sand box, and I was going between the zipline, the tires, and the Maryland bars (I'm not actually sure that's what they're called, they're two parallel bars that slope down to the ground from the Big Toy. You just hook your legs over the bars and zoom on down. In my case I was more of very slowly creeping down since my jeans weren't very slidey). It was a blast and we were all SO sore the next morning! And then before we left my baby insisted that we go back and we climbed up and down the slide for another half hour.

Anywho, I got the funnest package in the mail today! I have a favorite site called Collections Etc. and they have the coolest stuff! It's one of those catalog places that have all sorts of stuff that you don't really need, but at the same time you can't live without it, you know? I ordered a couple things last week and they came today! Joy! I got a set of three blown glass art necklaces, they're really pretty, and a figurine set of fairies in the woods! I didn't know if I expected them to be bigger or smaller, but for some reason I was so surprised and downright tickled when I opened them up! They've got glittery wings and the details are so cool! They are now in a spot of honor on the shelf on my nightstand, next to my musical doll my daughter got me for Mother's Day and the silk flowers in the white pail that I change when I'm in a mood to. So today was a lovely package day! I am going to have the hardest time deciding which necklace to wear first! Gah!

On a side note here, I have discovered that I love Cliffs Notes. I see them at the library all the time, so a few weeks ago I just grabbed a handful and took them home. They are so awesome! You get the whole plotline without having to read hundreds of pages! I read Wuthering Heights (depressing, glad I didn't read the long version), King Lear (want to see it now), Othello (depressing), The Iliad (interesting), My Antonia (glad I never read it in school), I tried to read Canterbury Tales but there were just too many flippin' characters, I did Beowulf (pretty nifty, I love mythology), and Henry V (cool). Who knows how many pages I would have had to read and Shakespeare I would have had to decipher? I love the story of Little Women and the Jane Austen's, but I can't stand the language. It's fantastic, but it takes you a freaking eternity to read! So I am more than happy to settle for the movie versions, or, in the case of this paragraph, Cliffs Notes! Hooray for Cliffs Notes! I have another 50 or so that I'm going to check out, and Don Quixote is the next one in the stack on my dresser. I'm excited!

Okey dokey, I think my mouth runneth over enough for tonight, and I shall now . . . do something. I was so tired earlier that I actually slept for an hour, and it was 9 o'clock! I'm still tired, but my mind is going 110 mph so I'm going to have to find a calming activity. It's a challenge when the last 2 discs of NCIS are beckoning and I also have 2 movies from the library to watch. David and Bathsheba with Gregory Peck and Immortal Beloved with Gary Oldman, it's about Beethoven. If either are remarkable, I'll let you know. But not tonight! I am not staying up til 3:30 in the morning again, no way! And so, I take my leave. G'night, y'all!

Five Observations

Ok, so I don't have much time right now because I have to get up at 8 in the morning for work, and after sleeping for about 45 minutes last night, I NEED SLEEP!!!! But I have several thoughts to share.

The first is that I do not like rhubarb pie. My mom explained what rhubarb was when I was a kid and I think I tasted it, but I remember what it smelled like. One of our neighbors made a rhubarb pie and brought it over, and while the crust was perfection, I do not like rhubarb. It smells pretty good, though, almost like apple pie.

The second thought is that I saw a movie that was almost a complete waste of time. It was Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakel. It was kinda boring, pretty cheesy, and the only thing I got out of it was a very severe case of song-stuck-in-my-head-itis. I'm now glad I never saw the first Chipmunks movie. I used to watch the TV show, and I love the Christmas albums, but they should have stopped there. It was not near as big a waste as Napoleon Dynamite or Kingdom Something that Orlando Bloom was in, or the Garfield movie, but it's probably Top 5 on my Worst List. On a side note, I love Garfield too and used to watch that all the time. My dad has the comic books and I laugh every time I read them, and Garfield's Christmas is one of my very favorite Christmas shows.

The third thing is that I pissed off and 8 year old today. Ok, so I pissed off two 8year olds today, but one was my sister, so she doesn't count. It's a requirement that you irritate your sibings. I ticked off her friend, and I'm glad I did. She's a twit and she deserved it.

The fourth thing is that I hate being allergic to cats. My first younger sister has a mixed breed cat, he's very handsome with gray and black striped long hair, and I am allergic to cat hair. And penicillin, but that's beside the point. I love cuddling soft fuzzy things, and not being able to cuddle a cat without suffering a rash and very itchy eyes is just unfair.

The fifth and final thing is that I profoundly hate air mattresses. It does not matter if they are brand new fresh out of the box, they will leak. It's like they are programmed to spring a leak and deflate hours before morning. And that's only half the problem! If you get warm or start to sweat on an air mattress, it's too bad! You're sleeping on plastic! You just have to lay there and suffer. Stupid air mattresses.

Ok, I think that's all the random observations I collected that I can think of right this second (I'm sure I could think of more, but I REALLY need to go to bed) so I'm going now. I think I got a cold right on the heels of that virus I had, which means that two and a half weeks after first getting sick, I am still sick. *Grrr* So I'm going to set my alarm *whimper* and work on that whole myth of healing. Ta!

Discovering, Deliberating, Drooling, Shuddering, and a Happy Dance too.

I'm having fun blogging right now. I just did the Librarian one and I have all sorts of other stuff I just though of that I wanted to blog about. Or just have a one-sided conversation about, whichever you prefer.

One thing is Elvis. So, for a few years when I was a kid, my parent's favorite radio station was oldies from the 50's, 60's, and 70's. I grew up on those. And until recently, I didn't realize that a few of my favorites were by Elvis! So I am sort of an Elvis fan. I don't like all of his songs, but I have 7 or 8 on my computer on my favorites list, so I think that counts as being a fan. It's his earlier stuff, when he was hot and sexy and it was completely understandable why every woman in America loved him.

My next topic is classical paintings. Personally, I'm not a big fan. The Mona Lisa? It's a fantastic painting, but I don't like it much. I don't think she's very attractive, and those facial features were pretty much the norm for a really long time in paintings. But recently I was on a cross stitching site trying to find free downloads (yes, I cross stitch, and I quite like it) and I found a section that converted classical paintings to cross stitch designs. I fell in love with some of them. I need to go back and get the artist names for them, but there was one in particular that had not artist name or date attached. It's called The Bride, and it's the one above. I love it. It is so beautiful, and for some reason it just jumped out and me and I was enthralled. She is so lovely! So yeah, I found my secret painting passion.

I'm almost done watcing NCIS. I'm on the sixth season now and I'll be done soon, which is good because I've really been wanting to watch some of my movies recently. Like The Duchess and Julie and Julia, and several chick flicks. I won't let myself watch them til I'm done with NCIS, though. I think I'll watch the 7th season online while I watch movies, because the only site I know of that has whole episodes to watch for free only allows you to watch about an hour and 15 minutes at a time, then you have to wait an hour. A couple months ago we did their unlimited access option for one month, and it was great. It was $10, so we won't do it every month, but I'm considering doing it for one more month so I can watch NCIS and one more show that I've been trying to watch for awhile. It was a pretty darn good deal! I actually really want to do Netflix, but we need to be a bit more financially stable before we do that.

So, my sister-in-law went on a British Literary tour this past month and she went to Ireland, Wales, Enland, and France and she brought back some of the coolest souvenirs for us. I got a gorgeous necklace that I can't do justice describing, and shot glasses from every country (I collect shot glasses. I don't drink, but I collect shot glasses, go figure. I do root beer shots when I'm in a mischevous mood sometimes). I also got a knight in shining armor figurine and an Irish post card. My husband got a felt Robin Hood hat (think Disney's Robin Hood), a shirt with a picture of a knight on it that says Dressed to Kill, a Robin Hood archer tie tack, and something else that I can't remember right now. Our daughter got a William Shakespeare picture book, a glittery cup from France, and a book of Irish fairy tales. We also got to try English toffee and Kinder Buenos, a European candy bar. They were very tasty, hazelnut cream inside a crispy rice wafer and all dipped in chocolate. *Drooling*

Ok, I'm having an emotional dilemma. The Twilight series by Stephanie Meyers. I have had some people insist that it is wonderful and I have to read it and that it is just life-changing. I have had other people insist that it is a few thousand pages of nothing but fluff and crap and they would rather vomit nails than read it again. I'm on the fence. I absolutely cannot stand the lead actors they chose for the movies, I think Robert Pattinson is fugly (that's ugly with a significant F at the beginning) and Kristin Stewart constantly looks grumpy and drugged and never ever smiles. However, I am of the opinion that Taylor Lautner is very hot and he would trump Rober Pattinson in looks any day. I would not mind watching a movie with him in it, if only the other two weren't there. Anyway, I'll have to let you know if I ever decide. I don't know if it's worth reading 500 pages just to see if I like the first book, but I don't know if I can stand watching that ugly man-boy and that emotional-vacuum girl for two hours. *Shudders*

I had a pretty tasty hot dog for dinner. It was not remarkable, by any means, but it worked in a pinch. It was Oscar Meyer, which is my all-time favorite hot dog brand, with Bar S in the runner-up position, and even though it was reheated it was still pretty decent. And I had it with ketchup and spicy brown mustard, but unfortunately no fries. I was too hungry to wait for the oven to heat up and then wait 20 minutes more for my single serving of fries to cook. Maybe I'll go grab a handful of my Chili Cheese Fritos instead. Now that's something to look forward to!

Ok, I'm going to upload all the photos I found for this post and continue watching NCIS while I munch my Fritos. I'm going up to my mom's tomorrow to hang out for a couple days, but maybe I'll write up my "Things Your Waitress Won't Tell You" post while I'm there. Yeah, I've been a waitress. Have I mentioned this? I've also been a photographer, a customer service rep, a chocolate shop clerk, a house cleaner, and a babysitter. And I'm only 22. Hopefully librarian will be my last job title, I really really really like this job! I keep having awful nightmares that I get fired, but I'm actually doing really well at work, so I think I'm just freaking myself out. One of the reference librarians (they know more than the ones that check the books out, like me) has even said a couple times that I'm doing great and that I will be a good candidate for a promotion. I did a squealing happy dance inside when she told me that. And she doesn't give out praise like that often, so it's extremely significant! Ok, on that happy note I'm leaving now! Farewell, my lovely imaginary audience, I bid you adieu!

15 Things Your Librarian Won't Tell You

You know, I actually love my job and rarely have any problems with it or with the people I help. I've actually gotten a lot of compliments on my jewelry. :) But sometimes there's that one person or that one problem that just stick out. And here are a few.

1. There are four people ahead of you in line. One of them has a screaming child. One a gigantic stack of books. There is only one librarian able to help right then. The very first thing we need from you before we can do anything is your library card. Why do you wait until you are at the desk before you start digging through your purse and pockets to find it?

2. No card, no checkout. Period. Would you go to the grocery store, bring up a cart of stuff, and say, "Oh, I left my credit card at home, can't you just use my driver's license or something?". Yeah. Didn't think so.

3. Whatever problem you have is likely not my fault, so stop glaring at me. All I can do is exactly what I say I can do, and then I pass you off to my supervisor. Then they get to deal with you. Which is why they get paid more.

4. Do you know how long it takes to put a cart of books away? Do you know that every time you or your children just pull random books off the shelves, look at them for 2 seconds, then just stick them wherever you think they go or to the sides of the bookends, makes that job two times as difficult? If you pull out a book, PUT IT BACK WHERE IT GOES. Or, if that proves too challenging for you, bring it to the desk so we can do it for you and get it back in the correct spot.

5. We have an astonishing amount of material in a library. There is no way we would ever be able to read, listen to, or watch all of it, especially since only about 3/4 to 2/3 of our entire collection is actually on our shelves. The rest of it is checked out. So if you come to us with no title and no author, the odds are not in your favor that we will magically be able to figure out which book you want by you describing the cover or the plot.

6. You remember the first time you saw your teacher in public and realized they weren't permanent fixtures in the classroom but were real people? We get a giggle when people that we've helped in the library do a double take when they see us somewhere else. "Wait, was that the librarian I just saw at Walmart? Weird!!!" Yes, we remember you. Yes, we're laughing at the triple take you just did when we walked past, just to make sure you weren't seeing things.

7. Control. Your. Offspring. Do NOT ditch your kids in the children's section while you go off to the adult section to browse. We are not babysitters, and we will come find you. Do not let them pull dozens of books off the shelves. Do not let them kamikaze leap off the chairs. Do not let them screw around with the handicap door openers. Do not let them have waterfights in the drinking fountain. Do not let them color on the computer screens with the pencils we provide for your convenience. Control. Your. Offspring.

8. Sorry honey, but you are not special enough for me to go against policy to help you with something that "really isn't your fault" or "was a misunderstanding". You turned in books late. You have a $3.00 fine. Man up, pay the stupid fine, it's your fault you have it. It's $3.00! You are acting like it's $100. Grow up. And yes, you are responsible for your kids too. This is why we require you to sign them up for a card.

9. It is completely true that sometimes we make mistakes. Sometimes when we are checking books in the barcode does not scan all the way and it doesn't check in. We do not always catch this, and sometimes we shelve the books. When this happens and you realize that you have an overdue book you remember turning in, we will do everything to find it. And if we find it on our shelves, it's our bad, we don't bill you for it. But do you have any idea how many people insist and swear on a stack of bibles that they turned that book in, demanding that we find out where we put it, only to show up a few months later with that very same book they swear they turned in? If it's our fault, we'll find it. But until we do, we will always assume that it's at your house, under your couch, collecting dust. And you know what? It probably is.

10. You don't have to whisper in libraries anymore. Quiet is appreciated, of course, but you don't have to remain silent unless you're in the study room where it is written on the door that no talking is allowed. That does not mean, however, that you may have a loud cell phone conversation while you're browsing through the stacks. You may not let your kids run screaming through the aisles. And when your baby starts wailing because it's nap time or lunch time, quit looking for more books and take the poor kid home! We'll still be here tomorrow, I promise.

11. I am more than happy to help you locate a book. I am also more than happy, when no one else is waiting for my help, to have a conversation with you. I'm a real person, I like talking to other people, and I love it when you treat me like one. Please just be considerate of other people that may also need my help. But if you want to hang around and talk to me when I'm free, be my guest.

12. We have regulars, too. We have the older guys who come in just about every day to get a new movie or book. We have the crotchety old lady who gets the maximum amount of CD's, keeps them as long as she possibly can, then gripes and grouches when she has to return them. We have at least 10 families that we know by name (although you may not know we remember you) that always get the enormous, and I do mean enormous, stack of books. We have the newly-arrived foreigner that can barely speak English but still comes in every day. We have the ones that love to talk. We have the ones that are always grouchy. We have the ones that put TONS of items on hold at once. We have the kids that we know will leave a disaster in their wake. We remember you.

13. We HATE IT when you come in two minutes before we close to drop something off or pick something up and tell us you'll "only be a minute". The only exception to this rule is when you really will only be in there for a minute. But when you come in, drop of a big pile of stuff, then go browse around at a leisurely pace, we get very annoyed. And we will bug you until you leave, so don't get miffed at us if it seems like we're stalking and watching you, because we are. We're closed. We're tired. We want to go home. Stop moseying and get out.

14. We are probably some of the most courteous people you'll ever deal with. We find your books with a smile, clean the mysterious sticky subtance off books without flinching (most of the time), help you pack your books back into your bag, if you ask we would even be happy to help you out to your car. Please be nice to us. We will remember if you are. And if you aren't. And even though we smile at everybody, if we remember you as one of the "good ones", we will go the extra mile for you.

15. If we are trying to explain something to you and it's not making sense, just let us know. We won't take offense. We know this stuff like the backs of our hands, but we were confused the first time it was explained to us too. Feel free to ask questions, that's what we're there for. And if we're doing a good job, or we really helped you with something, please pass on the word to our supervisor. We get evaluated every year and the more compliments we get on doing a good job, the better our job security.

I hope this gives you a good look into the life of a librarian. I actually love it, I get to see all the really good books that no one ever sees just glancing over the titles. Do you have any idea how much cool stuff there is in the nonfiction section? Books on tattoo art, language books, pregnancy books, cartoon books, drawing books, DIY house project books, travel books, animal books, just everything! It's so cool! And there are so many fiction authors, and we know which ones are really popular because they have the book that are always on hold or take up the most space on the shelves. I could list at least 10 authors that I have never read that I know are bestsellers because they have whole shelves to themselves. We have lots of movies, even newer stuff and movies you wouldn't think a library would have. Action, adventure, drama, horror, classics, black and white, musicals, documentaries, kids shows, all sorts of awesome stuff. Save yourself a trip to Blockbuster and come see what we have. It's free, and at least at my library you get movies for two weeks. That beats the crap out of a video store. And it takes about 5 minutes to get a library card. Quick and painless. So come on over and say hi. And be nice to your librarian! We know where you live. ;)

Still Sick, But The End Is In Sight!

I am thoroughly sick of being sick. It has now been 8 days since I first got a sore throat, and today is the first day since that I do not have to take 1200 miligrams of ibuprofen (they gave me 800 after I had my daughter) just to keep from bawling at the pain. And I do not cry easily. I have had stuffy noses before, we're talking massive amounts of . . . well, I guess I can say snot here, it's my blog after all. I have thought for years that inventing a snot vacuum would be a fabulous idea, that whoever inventing this fabulous machine would become a millionaire. I would buy one. I've also thought of inventing an air conditioned wig. I would shave my head in the summer and wear my AC wig. Ok, so I might not, but I have long, thick hair and sometimes I am sorely, sorely tempted.

Anyway, snot vacuums. This week has been no exception to my normal sicknesses as far as snot output, and in the short time of one week, I have personally gone through 4 boxes (big boxes, not the little square ones) of tissues. And I get the more expensive ones, with the lotion on them. Because when you're wiping and blowing your nose every other minute, you are not going to want to do it with a tissue that could qualify as sandpaper by day 5 of this routine. Four boxes! Needless to say, I have to buy more tissues now. As well as chicken noodle soup, because that was one of the very few things I could eat without making my throat feel like I was ingesting acid. Although I think if I have to eat anymore chicken noodle soup anytime in the near future I may prefer to starve. I'm making dinner tonight, and it's tuna noodle casserole, and I can't wait! Something solid and tasty and not chicken! *Happy Dance*

I'm also downloading Sims 2 on my laptop right now. So, with Sims, I love to create the characters and build the house, but after that I completely lose interest. I really don't care about having them "live". I get so bored. My husband kinda gets a kick out of that part, though, so I build, he plays. I'm in one of those moods right now, and since I've been watching NCIS, I'm going to make NCIS team, and the house they're in is going to be the NCIS building! I'm going to do the teamroom, autopsy, the director's office, MTAC, Abby's lab, and everything! How possessed am I? I think I'm going to do a Stargate team as well, but figuring out a way to do a Stargate could get tricky. Maybe I'll do a wall mosaic. Yeah, I'm possessed.

I can (sort of) smell the casserole and I'm starving!!! Ooh, I think my daughter may finally be getting to the princess stage. Up til now she has LOVED all the cartoons and movies with the animals. One Hundred and One Dalmatians was a HUGE favorite for months, also Aristocats, Monsters Inc., Bambi more recently, just all the animal ones. Well, these past few weeks we've been watching the princess ones, Cinderella, Snow White, Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and she's been enjoying them! It's kinda fun, especially since I am a Disney kid through and through, so I'm enjoying it too! Perhaps not over and over and over how she likes to watch them, but still. It's been fun.

Ok, Sims is almost done downloading and dinner is almost done cooking, therefore I am done blogging! Have a lovely day!

Sickie Sickie

You wanna know what I hate? Being sick. You know what I hate even more about being sick? When it hurts.

I had a sore throat last Wednesday, and it has escalated since then until I was finally prompted to visit and InstaCare this morning. I was looking at my reflection in the mirror (I looked like death, not even warmed over) and had a sudden wonderment if my excruciating painful sore throat might be tonsilitis. I looked it up online and I have all the symptoms, so I figured getting some antibiotics in me ASAP would be a pretty good idea.

So on a Sunday morning with me in my pajama pants still looking like death-not-warmed-over we took a jaunt to the doctor's office and paid a visit to Dr. Starbucks. No, that's not his name. I don't remember his name, but when he was checking my incredibly swollen glands I smelled coffee. Since neither I nor my husband drink coffee, it must have been Dr. Starbucks. He was really nice though, and aside from the incredibly painful double q-tip swab that felt like the entire back of my throat had come off, it was one of the most pleasant doctors office visits I have ever had. Except for the $75 fee that will be refunded when we turn in our financial aid form. That part sucked.

Anywho, I didn't get a prescription because Dr. Starbucks thought it would turn out to be strep throat, but it wasn't, so he thinks it is a virus that mimics strep. So after leaving we took another jaunt to Walmart to get Sudafed, the "good stuff" that you have to show your ID to get. I'm not really feeling a difference yet, but it's only been . . . 15 or so hours. The part that sucks beyond sucking is that NOTHING will make my sore throat hurt less! I tried ibuprofen, I tried Tylenol, I tried two other cold medicines, and I tried Aleve. NOTHING!!! Do you know how much it hurts to cough and swallow when it feels like you have enormous ruptured blisters lining the back of your throat? The only thing I have found that eased that pain slightly is honey, so I've been practically drinking it out of the bottle. Ok, not really, I'm dripping it on my finger and sucking it off, but I'm still consuming more honey right now than I usually do in a month or more. I'm very glad I got an extra bottle last week, we'll be needing it. So if anyone out there has a miraculous rememdy for a sore throat, I would love to hear it!

So, here I sit, alternating between a cold sweat, normal temperature, and a hot sweat, with my throat burning and stinging, my nose stuffed to the rafters, and a rather irritating itch on my back, deciding how bad it would be to mix Aleve with ibuprofen. Probably bad, huh? Yeah. *Pout*

I think it's time for bed. I'm going to call in sick for work tomorrow (I cannot express enough how much I love my job. One of the reasons is that they actually don't want you to come in if you're sick. I LOVE my job!!!) and perhaps the day after, depending on how I feel in the morning. If it is anything like now, I will be staying home for two days.

Ooh, before I forget, my handsome hubby is starting school tomorrow! He's going to get a degree in Computer Science and starts his first two classes tomorrow. He's been excited about it for a couple weeks, we got him new shoes and pants and a new backpack and a new laptop so he can do his online class. We have a couple laptops that we have adopted, but he needed a good one for school with a really nice battery. So yay for my husband!!!!

Yeah, I'm gonna go now. I'm going to finish this episode of NCIS, imbibe some more honey, and go off into a painless oblivion. *Crossing fingers* Night, all!

Sexy Food Experience

Ok, I just witnessed the sexiest thing I have ever seen in my life. It was my husband, making a pizza. He was throwing out that dough like the most practiced Italian chef, tossing it a good four feet above his head, and I have no doubt he would have gone higher if the ceiling were higher up. You know those chefs you see on tv that spin the dough in the air and catch it perfectly only to send it flying again barely a second later? That was my husand.

A little backstory on this: My hubby used to work at Dominos as a delivery driver and cook. They have to throw those tantalizing pies together within 15 minutes to get them to your door whilst still hot. They have to throw out the dough fast, top it fast, cook it fast, and deliver it fast while still maintaining accuracy and obeying traffic laws (or at the very least, not getting caught by a cop). I watched them a few times, and their hands just fly. Do you know how talented it is to throw 25-30 pepperoni slices onto an uneven cheesy surface with your hands going Mach 5 and six more pies lined up behind you? Insanely talented. Next time you get a pizza, delivered to your door within 25 minutes of your calling them, by a driver that walks it to your door and stands there patiently and politely waiting for you to count out your change while there are still more deliveries in his car, stop counting your freaking pennies and tip them. Good. We're talking 20% or more. And while you're at it, include a tip for the cooks. They appreciate that, and if you order regularly, they'll remember you, and they treat the good tippers very well.

Anyway, back to my sexy experience. So, we've been married almost 4 years, we're just two months shy now. We've known each other six years. Seeing something new and sexy from each other isn't rare, but not terribly frequent. I'm not sure what it was about my husband throwing out a pizza like a pro that got me all hot and bothered, but I liked it. Maybe it was the confidence, the devil-may-care way he just tossed that dough and knew exactly where his hands needed to be and they were there with astonishing speed. *Purr*

And now, with the fantastic scent of fresh, home-cooked pizza that is at this second coming out of the oven, I'm leaving. I know, you're all jealous!!!

Golden Spikes and Jerks

Today was quite fascinating. We spent the weekend at my parent's again, and today we went to the Golden Spike National Historic Site for the reenactment. My sister plays in her high school band and they played there, and it was tons of fun to listen to. I played clarinet for six years in school, so it was a bit of a blast to the past. They played Hey Baby, we played that in pep band, and it was fun. Anyway, before they started the reenactment, we had a blast. Then they started talking. And they didn't stop for about 2 hours. Long before they finished I got bored, and the rest of my family too. We went on a small train, kind of like a plain version of the kind you find at theme parks, and took a little ride. It was fun.

After that we headed home and I went to work. We had two exciting things happen today. The first one was a lady came in that has been cyberstalked by some creep. Her son saw him in a car near theirs in the parking lot and she was totally freaked out. She wanted to know if we had any video footage of his car or him.

The next exciting thing was that we apparently had some jerk in the library today. We have a regular that comes in, an older guy in his 60's that's disabled. He gets on the computer and prints off tons of stuff every time he comes in and staples them together while he mutters to himself. So today it seems he accidentally stumbled onto a site that offended another patron (we are certain it was accidental) and instead of talking to one of us behind the desk, the idiot called the police! A while later, two cops come into the library, don't even stop to talk to anybody, just split up and circle the library until they get to this guy. They kicked him off the computer, seized all the papers he had printed off, and started interrogating the poor guy quite loudly right in the middle of the library! The jerks! They were looking through all his stuff trying to find evidence but they found nothing. I know that being a cop is something very important and takes a lot of bravery, but that makes it twice in the past few years that I know from personal experience that they have been jerks and idiots.

Anyway, that was all the exciting stuff for today. Now I'm just watching NCIS and being very sleepy. But I just watched The Meat Puzzle episode, and I can't end with that episode, it's way too creepy although the part with Tony almost throwing a fit at being left with Ducky's mother is HILARIOUS!!!

Ok, I'm starting to have typing problems which means I need to get off the computer and go to bed. Night all, sweet dreams.

Ummm . . .

Wow, I don't actually have anything to talk about today. Or for the past couple days. Ok, I have one thing. I got a pretty ring for Mother's Day. It's not the one in the picture, but it's similar. It's got a pretty big pale lavender stone in the middle and two small clear stones on the side, and it's sparkly!!! I'm rather attracted to sparklies. I have three of those rings you get at Target or Walmart for $10 that have the big CZ stones and I love seeing all the flickers and rainbows in the car when the rings are in the sun.

I have the cutest little girl. Righ now her teeny little feet are inside my tennis shoes and she's got her hair in two ponytails and she's puckering her lips out as far as they go and making the MMMMM sound before the MWAH. We got her this really cute denim jumper with red trim and a two black and white dogs on it, but she's gotten so tall that it barely comes to her knees now and we got it during the winter. Now she's gone off to her room to wrap up her "babies" (two dolls, one little one about 4 or 5 inches long and another about 12) in a washcloth and a baby blanket. After that she'll unwrap them and put the little one in the toy high chair and make "lunch" for it on her little kitchen center. She's such cute little girl.

Ok, I really have no idea what random ideas to spout about next so I think I'll just cut my losses. The only other thing to report is that my daisies and poppies are doing fabulous. Whichever ones are the gray green sprouts with really thin leaves are doing AWESOME, there are just tons of them, and the other ones that are really green with two round leaves are doing good too, there's just not as many. Alright, I'm really going now, ta ta.

Random Random Random

Today is the funeral. I'm all dressed up and stuff, except for the socks I'm wearing over my nylons so they don't get dirty or snagged. And I haven't done my makeup either, perhaps I should go do that.

You know, sometimes funerals can bring families together, and sometimes they can reveal just how crazy some family members are. This funeral is doing both. It's kinda weird.

Last night after the viewing we went with my huband's family and his aunt and a few relatives visiting from out of state. We went to Olive Garden, which is FANTASTIC in every way possible. I had the Manicotti Formaggio and the Tuscan soup. And the breadsticks, of course, which would have been incredibly worth it just by themselves.

Earlier yesterday I got two books from the library full of cross stitching patterns and designs, and I'm in a cross stitching mood now. I have tons of thread and cloth, so I'm excited to start on that.

I just finished watching an episode of NCIS. I'm pretty sure I've decided that NCIS is my second favorite TV show. Stargate SG-1 is my favorite, and I think MASH has the number 3 slot.

I am completely going with any random thought that enters my head right now, are you enjoying it yet?

Yesterday I finally typed up that idea for a muse that connected A and C. It thought it was rather interesting, although I'll have to go back and add in a bit more finesse and detail when I'm more awake. Have I explained what muses are yet? I don't think I have. Ok, my muses are when I come up with an idea for a story. I see them in my mind like scenes in a movie, and I just write them down and then I either come up with the rest of that story later, or I tweak it just a bit to implement it into a work in progress. I've had lots and lots of muses, and I get them from all sorts of places. I tend to get some good ones when I shelve books at work. Either titles or author's names with strike me in a way that works with whatever I'm thinking about, or it'll just sorta fall into my head and play out. It's kinda fun, and really interesting, and I love to write them down and play the weaver when I string them all together to make something.

I have such a sweet dog. He's a black lab mix, his dad was part boxer, and while he looks every inch a black lab, he's taller and has longer legs than most other labs. He's got a big chest that tapers at his hips and his legs are pretty slim too. I think that's the boxer coming out in his genes. He's not at all partial to strangers, but once he checks you out and knows you're a friend, he'll love you forever. He loved to be petted and scratched and played with, and he equally loves just curling up next to you and sleeping. He's so cute, and such a handsome dog.

Ok, I need to go finish getting ready. We need to be at the church early to practice a song for the family choir. Hopefully this day will go smoothly and everyone involved will be comforted. And I hope your day goes well too. Happy Wednesday all.

Marital Relationships

Just for the record, I am going to make an effort to keep this post reasonably short seeing as how it's 1:21 in the morning here and I need to get to bed. Just saying. If I actually succeed in this endeavor or not is entirely dependant upon whether or not the muses are smiling tonight. Which I almost hope they are, because I came up with a story idea a couple months ago and I've been piecing bits together, and I just found a way to join up A and C at work today.

Today the topic is marital relationships. Not relations, relationships. I would hope that you are not looking to my blog for advice on marital relations, although I could offer some very sound advice and wonderful bits of trivia. Anyway, marital relationships. I find that one thing in a relationship that always makes things better is when you can be completely immature with your spouse. This morning while I was still in my pajamas, my husband and daughter and even the dog all got on the bed and wrestled and tickled and giggled and wiggled and had all sorts of fun just lying all over each other and poking or tickling any exposed body parts. The dog was having a ball burrowing his head underneath whatever happened to be blocking him from our heads, and our daughter was having a ball blowing raspberries on any exposed skin. Before today, I was not aware of how ticklish my legs are right above my knees.

Then, later, after I got off work and hubby put baby to bed, we decided to have a little late night tryst. We have no money whatsoever until payday, but I have been squirreling money away over the past weeks and had $25. This is another helpful thing in relationships, when you can squirrel away some money that is unknown to the spouse every so often. Then when you are both suffering incredible hunger pangs and cravings for fattening fast food, you can satisfy the roaring beast. So anywho, we went to Dairy Queen and got fattening food and fattening ice cream, then went to find a secluded area for a little, ahem, private time.

I will only say one thing on this matter. When you are already a bit freaked out that you're going to get caught in a state of undress by a cop, it does not help to be parked on the other side of a farm. Because when you wake up the goat next door and he comes questing to find out what the crap is going on, it tends to startle. If I had been wearing clothes, I would have jumped out of them when that wretched creature bleated in dead silence not 20 feet away. That is all.

So, the point to this whole story is to, at least once in awhile, go a little crazy and do something unexpected. We haven't made out in a car like that since before we got married, and after we recovered from having the daylights scared out of us by a nosy goat, we had the most entertaining bout of the giggles that lasted all the way home. Keep the love alive, people! Do something stupid and sexy!

I think I'm coming to the end of my relationship advice for the evening. Or morning. Whatever. I have one last piece of advice: if they snore, learn to sleep through it. I realize this may pose a hazard when you become so talented at this that you sleep through a fire alarm (guilty) but nevertheless, it will save you much time and grief. There isn't a cure in this world that will make your darling beloved stop snoring miraculously. (A side-note: it also helps if your parents were both snorers. Having grown up with champion snorers, I am quite used to snoring. I can still sleep through loud noises just like I did when I was 9 and my parents marveled that I slept through 5 solid minutes of the fire alarm going off. I can sleep through just about anything. Just ask my husband. On second thought, don't. That's not a story I want to get out.)

And so, audience, I am going to try to go to bed now. My muse shall have to wait til tomorrow, because I don't think that after a 10 p.m. Dr. Pepper I'm going to get much sleepier and I must gather May roses while they bloom. Nighty night!

Kid Shows, Libraries, Families

Here I sit on a Sunday evening watching kid shows on TV. The temptation of scrambled eggs was too much for my daughter and she abandoned me. It is amazing how many kids shows I am now familiar with. I knew a lot before, I loved watching kids shows when I was little, but there are a lot of new ones now. My favorite is Sesame Street. Yes, you read that right, my favorite. I love the guest stars that come on for the big word of the day. I've seen Jake Gyllenhal, Heidi Klum, Jimmy Fallon, Greg Kinnear, Cameron Diaz, Brendan Fraser, Kobe Bryant, all sorts of people. It is hysterical to watch. Most of the people on that list are funny anyway, but I wouldn't think Heidi Klum or Kobe Bryant would take to puppets like that!

You know, there are four laundry baskets practically overflowing at the end of my bed, and the thought that I need to fold it all is quite daunting. And the laundry hamper is already half full again! *Wails* A parent's work is never done.

So I just left to go make myself some eggs (yes, I succumbed) and when I came back Sammy had left some notes for me. She apparently found the M for Mommy on the keyboard, then the B for Baby, F for something (fish?), V for something (violin?), and then she found the first letter of her name and I had an entire screen full of nothing but that letter. A parent's work is never done indeed. Now she's adjusting the lamp shade on Daddy's side of the bed while she gets shortbread cookie crumbs all over his pillow. Strange child.

Earlier today we were all sitting on the bed, and started jabbering up a storm and waving her hands around. It took me a minute, but I finally figured out that she was doing the action songs we taught her. The Three Little Ducks and Three Little Monkeys. She loves holding up her fingers for the ducks and monkeys, and using her hand as a beak when she says, "Quack quack quack!" And she loves doing the daddy duck quack with both arms. Her favorite part of the monkey song is when the alligator SNAPS (slap your hands together) that monkey right out of that TREE! She knows the tree part is coming and she shouts that out every time.

You know, I work at the best place. I work at a library, which I have always wanted to do because I LOVE books and reading and figured it didn't get better than working at a library. Little did I know that reading books is the last thing you do as a librarian, but hey, what did I know? Anyway, the job is only half of why I love it so much. I work with the best people in the world. And not just in my library, but all of the branches in the county. They really are awesome, and the best ones work at my branch. With all the craziness and emotions this week from my cousin-in-law's death, my work has been nothing but supportive. They've offered to move around schedules to accomodate the funeral and viewing, and everyone has asked how I, my family, and his family are doing. This cousing also worked at another library in the county, so a lot of the county employees knew him. I don't know yet, but I am 100% certain that tomorrow I am going to have an e-mail about him and a fund to send his family flowers in my inbox. It is very rare to be able to say this, but I really do love my job.

I also love my little family. My husband, my daughter, and my dog. They are all so sweet and cute and funny, and in my husband's case, handsome and sexy. We've been teaching my daughter to say and do all sorts of fun things. One of our recent favorites is she does a double thumbs up and says, "Awesome!" It comes out "Awe-dom!" but it's adorable anyway. My husband just giggles when she does it. I taught her I love you, and she can count up to five, she just never starts at one. It's always 2, 2, 3, 4, 5. We can't seem to get the concept of the word "one" across.

Ok, I think I'm done sending completely random paragraphs out into the void today. Maybe I'll try musing, I have 8 quotes or story ideas on my phone that I need to put on paper or on the computer. Have a lovely evening, audience.