This is My Island In The Sun!

Realizing that I only posted once in June, here I am at the 11th hour for one more little push. (I blame it on the ridiculously hot weather.  I've developed a deep distaste for summertime in my old age).

Just a couple of things going on lately -

- Been teaching my 9-year-old cousin to sew her own quilt, which has been a lot of fun.  Honestly, the only thing that qualifies me to do this is that I once made a pieced quilt in college for a class and I handquilted it - just to say that I'd done it.  Oh - and I pieced a baby quilt for my niece last year, but I had that machine-quilted (she wouldn't have gotten it until she graduated high school otherwise).  So, this has been an interesting experiment in me BS-ing my way through being an expert.  It's still fun, though.  My cousin is a good student :)

- Summer Reading is in full swing at work.  I think I could give the Sign-Up Schpiel in my sleep.  Most of it is the same as last year's, which I helped with when I did my internship at West Jordan Library.  Honestly, I never know if the people signing up have done it before and need all the information or if they're brand new.  But nobody's been snotty with me and given me the "Yes, yes, we know, give us the stuff already!" deal.  The Teen Program this year is a little sparse and I'm not terribly impressed with it, though.  If they read, they get put into a ... drawing.  They don't really get a prize (other than earbuds).  Personally, I never win anything in drawings, so I'd feel like I was getting the short end on this one.  But I've heard that the kids would rather have a drawing instead of a poor selection of book prizes, so who am I to argue?

- Of course there's the yearly requisition of wildfires, only this time someone's been pumping steroids into the darn things.  The closest brush with wildfires I've had before this year was a fire started up the canyon of the ranch our family owned years ago, but it was peanuts compared to what's been going on (and the creek was running full-tilt that year).  My sister's been put on evacuation standby twice (that I know of) for two separate fires just in the past couple of weeks.  It's not a big deal compared to people in Fairview and Colorado Springs (holy crap - have you seen those pictures? I've seen pictures of wildfires before, but I don't think I've seen pictures with so many houses burning!), but still - I worry (it's my life's calling to worry, I guess).

- Better News - Jaylee is going to be 1!  I have a couple of project lined up for her birthday, but they're remaining secret until probably the day before.  And they'll only be posted on Facebook because, hey, privacy settings!  It's been an awesome year with the adorable little stink.  Every time I see her, seems like she's got a new little thing she does (her face scrunch is the best thing in the world!)  So, yeah - aunt-hood = Best Ever!

- Of course, I have plenty of things I'm reading and watching.  My latest project has been Castle, per recommendations from various Facebook friends after I heaped much praise on Firefly and admitted I had never seen anything else with Nathan Fillion.  So, I started and holy cow - a ruggedly handsome novelist following a homocide team around in a police procedural drama?  Could this show be any more made for me? (Maybe if the homocide team was based in Middle-Earth or something). I'm only partway through Season 2, but this is sooo my new favorite show (and I've decided that putting Nathan Fillion in any show or movie is the on-screen equivalent to smothering it in chocolate syrup. Yummy).
  - Also in the works - Avatar: The Last Airbender re-watch, Firefly re-watch (I got my dad the DVD for Father's Day - I know he'd love it if he ever sat down to watch it), I'm toying with the idea of a Doctor Who Fifth Doctor re-watch (I have all of them on DVD except "Four to Doomsday" - don't ask me why I don't have that one yet), and possibly a New Who re-watch as well.

- On the literary front - I'm currently reading a number of things, but I've recently gotten into Magic Kingdom for Sale - Sold! by Terry Brooks.  I read some of his Shannara novels in high school and really enjoyed them and, so far, the Magic Kingdom of Landover is much the same.  Fantasy, adventure, humor, mortal peril mixed with a little bit of fluff, a hardnosed lawyer becoming king of a fairy-tale land - can't argue with that.
  - Also, I've gained a taste for historical fiction as well.  The last one I finished was By The King's Design by Christine Trent about a woman who owns a draper shop in London during the Luddite rebellions.  Not bad, actually.  I'm going to start The Queen's Dollmaker soon (which actually should have been first, but it's not an issue that I'm reading it second).  And - I don't know if you can classify this as historical fiction because it was written (more or less) - during the time it was taking place, but I've working on North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell.  More on that as it develops.
  - For more historical fiction love, Tor.com is hosting a Georgette Heyer re-read this summer, which is odd for a sci-fi/fantasy site to do (I first got hooked on Tor with the Wheel of Time re-read. Then it was the Legend of Korra recaps - which I still need to do for myself).  I admit, I haven't read Georgette Heyer, but Tor's got my intrigued and with my new historical fiction kick - why the heck not?

That's it with me.  Hopefully I'll be back before the end of August with something new.

I Don't Want to Live On This Planet Anymore

Since I graduated from college, I've noticed that I haven't been calling out instances of general annoyance in my day-to-day doings as much as I used to.  But something happened this week that I just have to point out.  Besides, the world has gotten away with its stupid shenanigans for way too long.

A bit of background before I launch - last Sunday, I was visiting with my family over football games and cooing over the baby niece.  Somebody (or several somebodies) brought up the "Why Are You Not Dating or Married Yet?" tirade.  I let this go on because people need their hobbies and I can't get them to shut up about it anyway.

Fast forward to Thursday - I am at work (you know, that thing where big kids go and do certain tasks and get paid money for doing them?) and the guys who bring in deliveries from other libraries came in.  They were engrossed in conversation and they were quite loud about it so it was hard to ignore.  They were more or less my age (maybe a little older - no older than early 30s).  I didn't care that they were talking.  But their conversation was a stunning example of why I just don't date.  They were discussing such wonders - like how the new Beavis and Butthead made fun of Jersey Shore (Pot, meet Kettle).  Oh - and the different nuances in how Letterman and Leno deliver their opening monologues.  Not to mention what the heck happened to Conan's show?

If that is the best my generation can offer in terms of datable material, then I will gladly take self-imposed vows of celibacy.

Now, I know what some of you will say (in the most nasally voice you can manage) - "Well, we sit through all your Doctor Who crap so why shouldn't you sit through our Beavis and Butthead stuff?"  Because, Dear Readers, this is my blog and I will write whatever I choose.  Including commentary on how stupid and inane my generation is.  When silly nonsense like 30 Rock and Glee is considered high quality entertainment, there is something wrong with the world (besides, I like Doctor Who).

Honestly, I almost want to apologize to the world for the abject stupidity of my generation.  When the braindead fools on MTV and Comedy Central can tell you what to think and how to believe, it's no wonder that marriage rates are dropping and people are actually worried about it.  There are other factors involved, but a big part of it is that both guys and girls hang out with each other, they put on this stupid brainless act that they see acted out on TV in front of each other and everyone says "I don't want to marry him/her - he/she is an idiot."

Like I said, intelligence is only one factor involved but for me, it's a biggie.  A guy had better have something more substantial to say to me than whatever asinine drivel Letterman flapped about in his monologue last night.  Until then, I'm taking my ball and going home.

Things in the Past 24 Hours That Have Made Me Happy

I've just found a bunch of random things that have brought a smile to my face and I wish to share them with you. There's nothing really specific and no set theme.  Just something to enjoy on this chilly Saturday -

1. "What About Everything?" by Carbon Leaf



The first video I found with this song was actually one by Babelcolour and was posted by Traveling the Vortex. But I discovered that BC was inspired by the one above, which was done a few years back, and it is no less impressive.  And the song itself is quite inspiring - I got 10,000 (or so) words written on my NaNoWriMo yesterday just from listening to it over and over again.  I believe I have a new theme song for myself and a new favorite group.

2. Pandora Radio

I've since quit listening to the regular radio for music because (A) They never seem to be playing songs I like and (B) They always go right to some idiotic commercial just as I'm tuning in.  And I can't stand commercials anymore (I am becoming my dad in this regard).  However, I keep missing out of fantastic new music (like Adele) because I just listen to what I have on my iPod.  For whatever reason, I'd never used Pandora before last night (even though everyone's grandmother's canary has), so I decided to give it a shot and it was brilliant (well, so far).

3. "Help Me, Doctor! You're My Only Hope!"


Untitled by ~nrrrdy on deviantART

Okay, so I unofficially gave it that title (it was one that was suggested on the Doctor Who LJ forum), but that it really funny.  I really can't say anything more than that.

4. My Niece Doing Something Amazing

Yeah, yeah, I know what you're all saying - everything these things do at four months is amazing to their relatives.  But guys, Jay-Boo is reading! (Well, really, just looking at the pictures. Or deciding which page to drool on next).  You all can be as skeptical as you want, but this is my niece and I am a librarian and I couldn't be prouder of the kid (and her parents).  And this is my new cell phone wallpaper.

5. I Hit 20K In NaNoWriMo!


I meant to mention this earlier, but I'm taking on National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo for short) in which I'm writing a 50,000 word novel in 30 days, starting with November 1 and (hopefully) finishing on or before November 30.  I was on a pretty good track until I had a couple of days where I worked eight hour shifts and I didn't get anything written.  And if you don't write at least 1,667 words a day (on average), you get behind.  Well, yesterday I had the day off because of the holiday and I sat down and wrote my little fingers off.  I found a really good plot thread to go along with and I made it past the 20,000 word mark!  I was quite pleased with myself over that one.

Happy Saturday, y'all!

Updates and Stuff

Felt like updating today.  It's my blog and I do what I want with it.

- I think I mentioned this before, but I'm too lazy to go back and see for sure.  In a couple of weeks, I'm on my way to Serbia for study-abroad!  It's only for ten days, so it's not like I'm leaving forever.  But I'm still a bit nervous because this is the first time I've traveled outside of the U.S.  I am lucky in that there are people going with me that have been to Europe before and know the ins and outs of travel and I'm sure once I get there I will get settled-in nicely and everything will be great.  It's just the anticipation and preparation for a trip like this that's stressful - you know, making sure you have everything you'll need (most of that is just guessing what to take with me because we haven't got many details about the itinerary or schedule, so I'm sure that I'll get there and wish I had brought along X, Y or Z.  But that's neither here nor there).

- I haven't mentioned much about school this semester, but I am in this really neat Children's Library Services class!  Most of the class requirements entails reading children's books (picture books and novels) and giving short reviews of each one.  I had read some of them before this class, but some I had not.  But I will be posting my short reviews on cj's bookshelf later (I've posted at least one review of a novel from this class there already).  The rest of the class involves coming up with a puppet show and doing a read-aloud as though we were reading to kids.  This is going to be goooooood. :)

- Which reminds me that I never posted pictures of my Fancy Nancy adventure this summer.  During my practicum, I helped out with the "France with Fancy Nancy" program at the West Jordan Library.  And it was a BLAST!

If you don't know, Fancy Nancy is a girl from a series of picture books by Jane O'Connor.  Nancy LOVES anything that's fancy - words, clothes, food, parties, you name it.  So, this party was all about the fancy!

I read "Fancy Nancy's Favorite Fancy Words" to the group and that was fun.  But the REAL fun started when...

I let the kids dress me up as Fancy Nancy!  We just had some cute accessories in the library closet and we set them out and I acted like a giant doll for them to dress up.  Now, I would not do this in any other setting, but because it was part of the library program, I was okay with it.  And the kids had fun with it (I even had a few of them ask for a picture with me, which was a heart-warming moment).  That is the secret of being a children's librarian - you leave you dignity at the door.

- These days, when I'm not at work or doing school things, I am just enjoying my little niece.  In the two months since she was born, she's grown a lot.  But she's even more cute for it.

My sister texted me this picture the day of the first University of Utah football game and it made my freaking day (it was kind of a crappy day anyway).  Some background info - I made the blanket for her and I gave her the Ute onesie, so it was the best thing I could have seen.  I haven't been able to see her in person very much because of work and what-have-you, so I just enjoy the pictures my sister sends me or posts on Facebook.  And I just love this kid!  It's a weird thing, being an aunt, but I love every minute of it.

In Need of a Pick-Me-Up

I'm going to be "bleah" for a minute here, so if you'd like to skip ahead to the video, feel free.

Had a really weird day.  First of all, last weekend, our neighbors' son drowned at Flaming Gorge Reservoir and that's been tough on all involved.  Today, I found out when and where the funeral's going to be.  I fully plan on attending because that's the best way for me to deal with the grief.  But I'm always apprehensive at funerals.  This one's going to be especially rough because I went to high school with this kid and he graduated with my sister and his parents live down the road from my parents.  I mean, I'm solid in the knowledge of where he is right now (and I know his family is too) and that's a comfort.  I'm sure that he's having a great time meeting up with his grandparents and other assorted relatives and it's just us who are still here being weepy and teary-eyed about it.  It's natural to grieve, of course, and I would be the last to diminish anyone's feelings of loss.  But I don't deny that I know he's in a place that's a million times better than this life.

So - there's that I'm dealing with.  Plus, just the regular crap that gets piled on in the course of normal life.  The study abroad office decided to be punks and bug us all about getting our paperwork in.  This is the same paperwork we had to wait for three months to get just because some director or ombudsman or some other made-up academic pencil-pusher couldn't be bothered to send to us until three or four days ago.  But now that we have it, they can ride our butts and carp that we don't have our stuff in (which requires two academic references, two passport-sized photograph, a notarized signature and a fecal sample from our firstborn.  Okay - maybe not that last one).  Well, I'm sorry, but you're just going to have to wait.  My life wasn't going to wait for you to get on the ball.

Add to the fact that one of the supervisors at the library I subbed at today was a total pain-in-the-neck.  She kept giving me the stink-eye when I would help a patron at her workstation and check in books where she thought I wasn't supposed to be.  I think she was worried I was after her job or something.  Truth is, I'm not after a full-time library clerk position.  I want a post as an actual librarian - at the information desk.  With a Master's degree and potential to become a manager.  Worry not my sweet little part-time retiree - your pension is safe and secure *pat, pat*

Oy - if you read all that whining, good for you.  This calls for something that is complete light and fluffy and just a bundle of feel-good-ness. And since I had Owl City's "Galaxies" stuck in my head all day - and because Doctor Who just automatically puts me in a good mood - I decided to search for a DW video with that song. And this one is one of the best. Makes me wish I was better at vidding - alas, I'm too cheap to spring for the really good video-making software. So, I will just enjoy some of the stuff other people come up with.

Enough yakking - watch the video!

Weekend Roundup and Some Theorizing (Doctor Who SPOILERS!)

This past weekend was Pioneer Day here in Utah, so I was sort of off the grid for a while there.  For those that don't know, July 24th is a state holiday commemorating the day the first group of pioneers entered the Salt Lake Valley and began settling most of the present-day western United States. There's a huge parade in Salt Lake City and everybody gets to shoot off fireworks and there are barbecues and picnics and all the local government people have the day off.  It's like we get a sequel to the 4th of July ^_^  Also, my youngest sister had her birthday on the 25th, so I went to visit the family and go boating with my aunt and uncle.  I'm a little sunburned, but not as bad as usually happens (SPF 50, folks. SPF 50).

Anyway, it has been a particularly full week and it's only Wednesday.  Prepare for a list, folks -

- I started working for real last week - HOORAY!  It wasn't too bad, just busy (which was why I was not online so much).  Around last Thursday, I did a super-duper early shift and it totally drained me and it made me a little sick.  Not horribly bed-ridden sick, just enough to make me crash for a three hour nap after I got home.  It was the weirdest thing - I only meant to be down for twenty minutes or so, but there went my entire day.  Eh, what d'you do?  This week's been tougher because the tech guys did a BIG upgrade to the system and it's shut down everything.  And I mean EVERYTHING.  Patrons are having to fill out paper applications for library cards and nobody can renew things or places holds.  The clerks can get into the system a little bit, but it takes a long time and backs everything up out to the Pony Express.  All the while kids are crying, old people are asking why things aren't working and I'm just getting continually frustrated.  Once it's all back online, it'll be fine and dandy, I'm sure.  But for now it's a pain in the butt and I want to slap the person who decided this would be a good idea.

- Taught the lesson in Relief Society in church on Sunday.  Normally, I love my RS teaching gig, but this week the assigned topic was Eternal Marriage from the General Conference talks this past April. That is one of the most annoying gospel topics to teach in a singles ward, especially the young single women.  I didn't want any of the ladies I teach to come away feeling like less of a person as is wont to happen in these settings (I'm LDS and have been for a long time, but I've long felt that married life as a Mormon is just weird.  Not as it pertains to Church doctrine or anything - just how it's executed in day-to-day living. That's an essay in and of itself).  But I did okay - we ended up having a good conversation about how it's not something to stress over if you're not married and it's a good thing to go get an education and start a career and not focus so much on finding a man and starting a family.  The class seemed to respond well and I don't think I hurt anyone's feelings, so victory for me!  All I can say is that I'm grateful that times have changed since my aunt got married (that's another story, but probably not for this setting).

- Enough with the whiny personal anecdotes - IT'S DOCTOR WHO TIME!!! (well, it will be in a month - YAY FOR AUGUST 27th!!)


(Bless the person who made this gif. It is magnificent.)

   It would follow that BIG Doctor Who news would fall over a holiday weekend and I would be unable to devote full attention to it.  But I'm going to do so now.  SPOILER ALERT!! (well, more like THEORY ALERT!! but I suppose some people like to avoid those as well).  Now that I've watched the trailer a few times, I have at least one thought that goes beyond OMG - DOCTOR IN TAILS! OMG - RORY PUNCHES HITLER!! OMG - OLD!AMY!!!  This relates to the OMG - EYE-PATCH!RIVER!! clip.

  Full disclosure -  Part of this theory was triggered by a discussion of a short story Shaun from Traveling the Vortex wrote that uses this trope.  I think the guys from Radio Free Skaro touched on it a little bit in passing, but Shaun's story really got my brain going on this after I read it a second time, so credit to him for lighting the spark.

  I think that Series 6.2 is going to deal with some heavy-duty rewriting time and what the effects are of doing that.  I wonder if the Doctor, Amy and Rory are going to end up in an alternate timeline that was caused by some meddling in history (like, say, saving Hitler's life for example).  Eye-Patch!River clued me in on this - I think the River in that trailer is River in a future where baby Melody Pond was never rescued from Patchy (her real name is hard to spell, so she's Patchy).  Patchy then raised Melody to be Patchy's successor and now adult!Melody is the leader of... whatever Patchy is the leader of (I don't think she's the leader of the clerics, thought I could be wrong).  Somewhere along this alternate timeline, Amy and Rory left the Doctor, but fell in with some sort of rebel group.  Rory was killed (which is perhaps why we don't see an Old!Rory in the trailer), but Amy became this awesomely-awesome pseudo-samurai person (as a counterpart to Rory the Roman, perhaps?) and fights the baddies that her daughter is effectively leading.  Adult!Melody never meets the Doctor or her parents and is the enemy in this alternate timeline (she may even believe Patchy is her real mother).  So, somewhere, the Doctor has to make like Marty McFly and go back and fix this back to the way it should be... which, I'm still working out what that solution would be.

Maybe the Doctor dying at Lake Silencio (which is really Lake Powell - there is no Lake Silencio in Utah.  Not to my knowledge and I've lived here my whole life. /pedantry) in "The Impossible Astronaut" triggered the alternate timeline in the first place but the Doctor thought he was fixing something else when he let the astronaut shoot him, but that set the screwed-up timeline in motion because River, Amy and Rory convinced not-dead!Doctor to take them the 1969 and they fought the Silents, which turns out to be a bad thing.

Oh - wait!  I've never mentioned that!  Since "A Good Man Goes to War," I've wondered why the Silents kidnapped Amy in "Day of the Moon."  At first I thought it was to switch her out with the Ganger, but it had said that she'd been a Ganger even before then.  They even tried to get Amy to tell the Doctor she was pregnant, which obviously Patchy and Co. don't want him to know.  So... why?  Are the Silents in opposition to Patchy and the Clerics?  Did we read these guys wrong?  Are they actually the good guys?  Did the Doctor effectively murder potential allies?

Okay, I have no reason to think that the Silents are actually on the Doctor's side other than they kidnapped Ganger!Amy and maybe were trying to get a warning to the Doctor that she was pregnant.  Sort of flimsy, but then I think about all the people who insisted that River was Amy and Rory's daughter and that seemed like an off-the-wall theory at one time.  So I'm more willing to entertain some of these odd theories at this point.

That was a long bullet to end the list, but if I'm right it'll be worth it.  And if I'm wrong - well, it was fun to postulate anyway.

I'm an Aunt!

I had some of this on Twitter and Facebook last night, but now that my sister has made everything official, I can start spreading my excitement as well :)

Introducing - Jaylee Elizabeth!

She was born on July 4, 2011 at 8:42 pm, weighed 7 lbs 3 oz and was 21 inches long. And she's about the cutest thing in the world right now (and I got to hold her last night and today - today I held her longer than anyone other than her mommy.  Well, while me, my mom and my siblings were visiting anyway ^_^)

Weekend Roundup

That video makes me squee so happily. I don't even know why.

It's been a busy weekend, to be sure. So, I'll just hit the highlights and move on with my life.

- I. LOVE. STUDYING. LIBRARY. SCIENCE. Laugh if you must, but this weekend I went up to Salt Lake to meet up with my MLS Cohort buddies and enjoy a full weekend of discussing collection development. Beyond getting all this new information so I can be a good librarian when I get to that point, I just love being around my classmates and colleagues. Maybe it's because I had a real downer week (the kids at school were being little twerps and I'll just leave it at that), but it felt good to get away and do something that makes me feel good.  I honestly can't wait to do my practicum this summer.

- While I was up north, my dad had me move some of my stuff that's been in storage since we moved nine years ago. We'd had it stored at this old house my parents own but are now selling (which, why we didn't sell it years ago is beyond me, but I'm not the one calling the shots). But since I don't have my own place to move all my stuff to, it just moved into another storage area (into a friend of mine's garage - I'm going to be living with her this summer anyway). Most of my stuff ended up getting thrown out because I didn't need it or because of mice (yeah...), so I actually have less stuff than I thought I did.

- Here's a funny story - for my class weekends, we meet in a small-ish library in Salt Lake City down the road from the University of Utah. It's right next to a Barnes and Noble, which does not help my finances at all. I'd arrived at the library early on Friday night, so I thought I'd go browse B&N to see if they had anything good. I ended up in the DVD section, perusing their Doctor Who DVDs to see if there was something I really wanted that 2Entertain wasn't planning a Revisitation version of later. Turned out they had the Black Guardian Trilogy at a decent enough price, so I bought that. The guy at the counter noticed what I was buying and actually seemed impressed that I was buying a Doctor Who boxed set and he started asked me who my favorite Doctor was - I replied that I really didn't have a favorite yet (well, I do, but I haven't seen them all yet, so I'm reserving judgment), but I'd been on a Peter Davison kick lately (hence, my purchase) and I really liked both David Tennant and Matt Smith. I think the guy thought it was cool that there was a 20-something girl in Utah that actually knew what Doctor Who was - even enough to buy some of the Classic series on DVD (or maybe I'm just giving myself gratuitous pats on the back).

As I left the store, I had to get on the escalator down and I noticed a guy walk in with either his wife or girlfriend. This guy had a black t-shirt on with white lettering in the shape of a TARDIS that said "Bow Ties are Cool" and a white image of a bow tie above that. I wanted to yell out "Nice shirt!" to the guy, but he'd passed by the time I got to the bottom of the escalator (plus, I'm a little shy about yelling out in a crowded store - and I try not to get too over-zealous about my love of all things Who, especially in public. I don't do well with awkwardness). But seriously - how cool is it that I encountered not just one, but TWO people who seemed to know what Doctor Who was and even were fans of it? 'Course, I was in Barnes and Noble, which I lovingly refer to as "The Geek Store" but it just made my heart happy ^_^

So, I'm feeling pretty good about life right now. And I'm off to listen to Radio Free Skaro's latest episode while the rest of the world sits and snores at the yearly parade of Hollywood's Most Pompous (or as I like to call it "The Best Movies No One Cares About." With the exception of the year "Return of the King" cleaned everybody out, nothing I like ever wins so I don't even bother)

Cheers!

Now I Know We're Related

Anyone who knows my sister and I knows how vastly different we are.  I think it's a form of subconscious rebellion we've undertaken against our parents who insisted on dressing us alike when we were little.  There is a picture of us both in these frilly red dresses going to church (a sad, sad relic that serves to remind us of the fashion horrors committed in the '80s).  Even more distressing is the memory I have of at least three people coming up to us during church as asking us if we were twins (even though these people knew our family and knew full well that my sister and I are two years apart in age thankyouverymuch).

However, now that we are older, we have developed our own interests that rarely (if ever) cross paths.  Even with one interest we have in common - cheering for University of Utah football - we don't participate in together.  This past Thanksgiving, for example, I went in one room to watch the Utah-byu game.  My sister was sitting in the room as well and asked me (rather pointedly) where I was going to be watching the game.  I shrugged, sat down said "In here."  She promptly got up and walked in the other TV room, citing that she cannot watch football games with me - I make her too nervous.  After she and my other sister left, my dad (who had been witness to this entire exchange and knows perfectly well how we sisters are) started laughing.  All I can say is thank heaven for multiple DirecTV receivers in the house.

I'm not upset about this at all.  Far from it - I've actually gotten some pretty funny stories out of encounters with my sister.  Siblings have every right and reason to be their own individual people.  Why would you want to be attached at the hip with your brothers and sisters for the rest of your life?  But we are so different that I have had people express surprise when they find out that she is my sister. 

This brings me to my point in writing this.  In the course of announcing that she and my brother-in-law are expecting, my sister posted to her blog one of the funniest versions of someone announcing their pregnancy I've encountered online.  Her post also serves the dual purpose of confirming to me that my sister and I indeed share common DNA because I agree with her wholeheartedly.

Somewhere There's a Circus Running Itself

Give me a break.

We had a spontaneous family reunion this Labor Day weekend (there, I said it).  Two of my mom's sisters and their families were out for the weekend and we had a blast with everyone.  Our neighbors have an annual Labor Day picnic where they invite the whole world to Callao for games and food.  This year, they had a 5K run in conjunction with it.  I didn't go run because it was scheduled for the crack of midnight (well, 6:00 am, but that's too early for a three-day weekend) but my mom and my aunts went.  My mom and my aunt even got medals for running, so that was cool.

During dinner, I entertained the wee kiddles with hula hoop tricks which we got pictures of:

I would have gone longer, but one of the hula hoops had streamers that were coming off and it got wrapped around my wrist.  But I did get a nice applause for it ^_^

Just as a general recap of some things that were discussed and laughed about - this is what I've learned about family gatherings (reposted from Facebook):

1. You save yourself a lot of stress and heartburn if you lock the bathroom door behind you.
2. You can learn anything on the internet, but it's best not to admit to it.
3. The experience you get out of these functions directly mirrors the attitude you bring with you.
4. With regards to the chili, your mileage may vary.

(And my redneck cousin from the other side of my family adds a #5 - Family reunions are a great place to meet a boyfriend/girlfriend.  Make of that what you will).

And evidently there is some drama brewing over the weekend's events via Facebook (hence, the demotivator at the top of this post).  Me - I'm just sitting back with my big bucket of popcorn and enjoying the fireworks (mmmm... butter...)

(My sister is watching some Disney Channel show and I have to say... I don't know why people think that Raven chick is funny.  It's a mystery, to be sure - looks like they're trying to be the emo-tastic CW. Vomit).

Holy Risotto, I'm Tired! or Snark Reigns Supreme!

(Thanks to the joys of Wikipedia, I finally found out what risotto was. Now this video makes a bit more sense - and is even more funny ^_^)

This was the first weekend after I've been working for a full-on week and then I went to church in Delta.  I love the singles branch in Delta.  I have a bit of anonymity (not a whole lot, but a bit) and I can be my own person there (whereas in my branch in Callao, everyone knows my family, everyone is in everyone else's business, etc.  You know, the real reasons people go to singles wards/branches - not that stupid excuse that it's the only place they can go to get married.  I spit in the eye of that excuse).  But this driving back and forth... it's exhausting.  I am fully aware of how crazy it is to do so much driving, but I don't know that I have a choice in the matter.  Well, actually I do.  I could find a job in Salt Lake or Delta or Logan or Outer Mongolia and move away... oh wait... I tried that one already.  We're in a recession and nobody can afford to hire any new people (and here's where I would usually be inclined to make a snarky political statement, but I just don't feel like dealing with the fallout right now.  You can pretend I said something if you like, 'kay?  Maybe I'll just randomly link to HillBuzz.  Good enough).

Anyway, where was I?  Oh yeah - the only place I could find to hire me was at West Desert High School.  Beggars can't be choosers.  And it's not so bad as it could be - at least it's in the general ballpark of what I want to go into anyway (Youth Services Librarianship - yay masters degree!).  It just requires that I live in the outer reaches of nowhere, which is coincidentally where my family lives, which is nice because I don't have to pay rent (I help keep the house and do a bit to help out the family business, though).  But the driving!  All the driving I have to do!  I shouldn't complain - it's not like I'm not used to it.  One day, perhaps, I will live somewhere that I live a block away from work, school, the grocery store and Barnes and Noble.  Maybe even a place where I don't have to give the US Postal Service one ZIP code and UPS a completely different one.  Maybe even a place where both Verizon and AT&T will have painted on their maps (what is that like, anyway?)

Then again, if I lived in a place like that, I'd hate all my busybody neighbors who have to know all the cackly beauty salon gossip ("Oh my GAWSH - she did WHAAT???" - please kill me) and live on top of me and call the cops when my dog craps on their lawn.  My house would look just like everyone else's house because that's what the Homeowners Association (i.e. Hitler) told me to I had to do just to live here (I hate HOAs, in case you couldn't tell.  I think it's a stupid idea, selling me a building lot and then telling me what I can and cannot do with it.  It's my property - I'll do whatever the freck I want).

Just goes to prove that nowhere is perfect.  Everywhere has things you love about it and everywhere has things you wish would go far far away.  As it stands, I love being in Callao and I wouldn't move for anybody.  I don't mind going to the city for a visit (but I also wouldn't be opposed to friends coming to visit me out here, hint, hint.  Come on, all you wussy city-dwellers - it's not that far to come.  Some of you probably make weekend trips to Lake Powell or Wendover without blinking an eye).

("Wussy" here is a term of endearment, by the way)

This post is all over the place - I don't even know where I started.  Goes to show how tired I really am, I guess.  I make random comments.

It's the Brain Damage!

I drove my mom and sisters up to Happy Valley to do some back to school shopping.  Holy crap on a cracker, can you say "baby factories?"  I swear, every screaming child under the age of five within potlucking distance of Zoobie land was in Ross and Old Navy today.  Even worse, it was their deadbeat parents that dragged them in the store, let them run wild while Mom and Dad snuck a Diet Coke in the dressing room ("Heavenly Father is our baby-sitter."  Geesh... I wish I could get an emoticon to roll its eyes).

My family wonders why I'm still single - why I don't even date.  Well, gee, let me spell it out for you: dating leads to liking a guy, which leads to REALLY liking this guy, which leads to falling in love, which leads to an engagement, which leads to a wedding (which is it's own kind of insanity), which leads to a honeymoon, which (sooner or later - especially in Mormon culture) leads to a boatload of children driving everyone around me absolutely crazy, which will quite possibly lead to my mug shot on the 6:00 news headlining a story of how I locked them in a closet for a year/drown them in the bathtub/fed them rusty nails for dinner (take your pick - CSI has a whole list of them).

Now, I have nothing against kids in general.  In fact, kids can be a lot of fun.  When they belong to other people who have the time, the desire and the disposition for them.  I can only handle so much - which is evidently the case for some Old Navy shoppers in Orem because I saw and heard a lot more kids than I saw/heard adults corralling these terrors (maybe it was the noise bouncing off the concrete floor - but I doubt it).  I actually had a bet with myself going on if the parents of a little girl ahead of me in the checkout line would notice that their sweet angel still had a plastic margarita-ish glass in her hand when they got out the door after they had paid (turned out I lost the bet, but it was pretty close).

When I start to get down on myself that I'm not married and don't have kids, all I have to do is go shopping in Utah County (barring that - go to any Wal-Mart on a Saturday morning) and I will be cured of that within minutes.  I am a staunch, tried and true Mormon - but I might even start reciting the Catholic vows of chastity.  Just in case.

In fact - that's how you can combat teenage pregnancy.  If any high school-age couple is contemplating doing the "wild thing," don't assault them with statistics of how young mothers don't finish school or that the guy is going to have to pay child support - don't even bother talking about STDs.  Just let the two baby-sit five or so kids under the age of ten for a couple of hours (some should be boys who are just old enough to want to try to beat the crap out of each other) and they'll have their legs locked up tight.  Bonus points if the kids are related to one of the teenage couple (because then you can scare them by discussing genetics and "The Mother's Curse.").

My one consolation - I didn't have to cart any of those yard apes home.  Heaven be praised.