a short and merry life

it's a small (mormon) world after all

2012-02-15T17:16:00.001-05:00

Since I've started my job, a few people have asked me if there were any other Mormons who work there. I said I'm sure there were, but I hadn't met any specifically, because it's not like you can always tell. Well, I went to work today, just like every other week day. A new (middle aged) gentleman was being shown around and introduced to people.

When he got to my cube, he said, "You know, you're the second Kristin Neeley I've met in my life."

I said something non-committal like, "Huh, that's interesting." I mean, it doesn't seem like a stretch that someone else in this wide world could have my same name. It's not that unusual.

He went on. "Only she spells her name without an "i" in the beginning - Krsten."

Now he had my attention! I'm fairly sure in this wide world there really is only one Krsten (pronounced "Kristin") Neeley and she is my aunt. I said as much.

Now I had his attention. "Oh yes?" he went on. "Are you... Steve's daughter?"

I said I was Steve's niece, but that I was Bruce's daughter.

He said that he used to work with my uncle - Keith (Krsten's husband) - and that they had figured out that he was second cousins to Bruce, June, Steve and Keith, their grandparents being siblings. (Note to my mother, Eleanor and Justin, being the siblings.) This would make me his second cousin, once removed. And of course, we got to chatting a bit more after that. He gave me his phone number, in case I need anything, in true Mormon relative fashion (me being new to the area and all) and told me about his kids at BYU.

So there you have it - the first Mormon I meet at work and it turns out we're related. Of course. Welcome to Mormonville.

it's been one week (or so) since you looked at me

2012-02-12T12:20:00.002-05:00

Ever since I've moved to the DC area, the question I get the most is "How's DC?" So, here's a pretty boring update. (I think that everyone knows I moved here, but if not - hey, I moved to Washington DC!)

First - living arrangements. I live with three other girls in a pretty spacious townhouse. I have my own room and bathroom, which is lovely. (Not that I minded sharing with previous roommates Scarlet and Scout before her, but it's nice to pick up a pair of glasses and know that they are mine.) Two of the new roommates are delightful and kind girls and I've enjoyed talking to them. The other one is probably delightful and kind, but I've only seen her once and I'm not totally convinced she even sleeps (or comes) here.

I started work two days after I moved here, and between work and school (still in school) It has been slow going trying to get my house in order. I spent most of the time I had in the first week and a half getting the front room organized, so my delightful and kind roommates wouldn't hate me. As those of you know who helped me move, I have a lot of stuff. At last I've got all the books on the shelves (luckily my roommates didn't have anything in the front room, so I could take over, as is my wont in the places I live). (Also luckily, there wasn't a tv in the front room, and I provided mine, so they have more reason to not hate me for taking over.) So for the last few days I've at last been able to focus on trying to get my room organized. One of my roommates commented on the progress I was able to make in just one day yesterday as she walked by my bedroom. What she doesn't know is that since I have a bathtub separate from the shower, I've just been putting stuff in the bathtub until I know what to do with it, so it looks like I'm much further along than I really am.

Next - church. Three singles wards meet in the building that I meet in, and there is even less parking (and no double parking options available) than the building in Columbus, so this year my ward meets at 3. Yes, I will tell you, it's a little bit awful. But I do have loads of time for reading in the morning, not to mention blog updating and box unloading. So, while I don't love it, I can live with it. Next year we move to 8, which I will like much better. The ward is much bigger than I'm used to as well; about 250 people. So it's a bit overwhelming, but I've already ran into three people that I knew at BYU, plus a friend of Mrs. Weasely, so I feel like at least there are some friendly faces about.

And finally - work. Work is going well. Really there's not much to report on there, except I work right on the Army base, which is a bit exciting. It takes about a half an hour to get there, so I've been enjoying some good old BYU devotionals on the drive in and some good books on the drive home. As my older sister pointed out, this is the first time in my life since college that I haven't work for a three letter acronym. (In college I worked for BYU at the MTC, then I worked for MWH, then ACS, the CGI and finally the Ohio Department of Legislative Information Systems, or LIS, as it was called. So I'm like a fish out of water here.)

And that's about it. I'm enjoying the adventure so far. I miss my friends, of course. It just takes a while to meet new people, and I miss talking to people beyond the cursory getting to know your story questions. (I especially miss Lauren, Tawna, the Carpers and Joseph for those more meaningful conversations, though I know it's dangerous to name names, and I miss everyone else too, trust me.) But I know those things have to be waded through, and really I don't mind too much. It's been fun and exciting. But, you know, if you wanted to drop me a line or something to let me know that you still have fond thoughts of me, that's okay too.

shiver shiver

2011-12-18T21:03:00.000-05:00

Ohio, like many places, has weather that can be pretty up and down during this part of the year. One day it will be warm enough to run outside without a jacket and the next you can't go out without twelve layers. So, the other day, I was in my house and I was freezing. I'm often colder than most people. (My mom says I am another Sam McGee and I will only be warm when I'm cremated.) So, I turned up the heat. But it was still quite cold. So I turned it up some more. I didn't hear the tell-tale sign of the heater turning on, so I feared the pilot light was out. We've had pilot light problems in the past.

The problem was the furnace is located in the unfinished part of the basement and currently that part of the basement is full of furniture and other stuff that was in the way of checking the pilot light. Being the pansy that I am, I couldn't move the stuff by myself to check. So I waited for Scarlet to come home and together (i.e. her, by herself) the furniture was moved out of the way. I removed the cover, but the pilot light was going strong. Great - now what's the problem?

I headed back upstairs and settled in on the couch with a hat and gloves and cuddled under a comforter to read. Scarlet walked by and laughed good-naturedly at me. "It really is a bit cold," she conceded. "Oh," she went on, after having checked the thermostat, "the temperature is set to 80, but it's actually not on heat - it's off. That's probably why." Probably why indeed.

wait.... what?

2011-08-31T22:36:00.000-04:00

It's been a while since I updated by blog, and who knows when I'll update again, so I've got a few unrelated thoughts.

1. I was at a concert at the Newport recently and while I was waiting for my party to return from the restroom, a girl came up to me with a large beer in her hands and, holding it out to me said, "You've got to help me drink this!" Luckily, I had my standard, "Sorry, I don't drink!" response, so I didn't have to try to explain that drinking from a strange girl's cup, with the possibility that she was trying to drug me so she could steal my organs (I was all alone after all), was not my usual modus operandi.

It reminded me of a time I was at Columbus State walking to class when a guy walking toward me was lighting a cigarette and talking to himself. "What am I doing, this is bad for me, I need to quit this," he said. When we were about to cross paths, he held the cigarette out to me and asked, "Do you want this?" Luckily, I had my standard, "Sorry, I don't smoke!" response.

Even so, it got me wondering, does this happen frequently to other people? I can't imagine there are many things that I would take straight from a stranger's mouth no questions asked, except perhaps dark chocolate or pineapple. Do people usually go around wishing to share overpriced carcinogens with people they don't know at all? And why aren't more people walking around with dark chocolate covered pineapple?

2. An addendum to my previous bicycle post. I went running at Antrum Lake a week or two ago and as I was about to start, a guy on a bike was coming toward me. He was talking on his cell phone and I had just enough time to hear him say, "I will call you back!" before he threw the cell phone down and crashed into the bushes. He was unhurt, which was good because it was pretty much the funniest thing I'd seen all day. Apparently he has the same bicycle skills as me. (Or else I'm just a magnet for bike crashes.) I can only imagine what kind of conversation was so important that he had to take that call right then. And I can only imagine what the person on the other line thought - if the call was ended or if they were just listening to the bystanders asking if he was okay.

In other news, my physical therapist told me that she doesn't want me to ride my bike for a while until things settle down with my shoulder a bit more, which is good because I'm still a little bit afraid of my bike.

In other news, I dislocated my shoulder last month white water rafting. I guess I don't have anything else to say about that, except that if you ever dislocate your shoulder while white water rafting, Lady MacBeth is a good person to have with you. She came to the hospital with me, so I didn't have to be alone.

3. A week from today I start my first class at Johns Hopkins University. I'll be working on a master's degree in bioinformatics. The program is designed for people who are working full time, so it has both on site and online options and I'm going to start with the online option to see how I like it. My first class is biostatistics, so wish me luck.

And if you happen to be walking by me sometime, can you please have some pineapple in your mouth?

i can ride my bike with no handle bars, no handle bars, no handle bars....

2011-07-18T22:14:00.000-04:00

My whole life I've had an interesting relationship with bicycles. My earliest memory of a bike is when my bike literally tried to kill me. I was probably about 6 or 7, riding my bike with training wheels (the one two previous sisters had learned to ride on) and somehow I managed to fall off. (Apparently I was so uncoordinated back then I was able to fall off a bike with training wheels.) Being the same melodramatic girl back then that I am now, I laid on the ground in despair, thinking I would never learn to ride a bike, when the bike itself, having had enough momentum to keep going, and having training wheels so it didn't tip over, headed up the slight incline that was our driveway, turned, came down the drive way and ran over me.

Somehow, I still managed to learn to ride a bike and had a fairly normal childhood riding around the neighborhood, graduating up to the purple banana seat bike and then to a bright, new, shiny, my very own pink ten speed later. (Nothing is better as the third girl in the family to get something of your very own.)

But my brushes with bicycles were not over. My freshman year in college, I was hit from behind by a biker. I was just walking to class when I felt something hit my calf causing me to stumble. I can't remember if the girl fell off her bike or not. She was probably going slow enough that she was fine. She apologized and said she hadn't seen me. "Really?" I thought. "I am the only person on the sidewalk. Were your eyes closed?" As neither of us were hurt, we went our separate ways.

When Lydia was on her mission, I borrowed her bike. I would ride it to work, which was only a five mile ride. I only fell off once when I was trying to avoid a pedestrian and my handlebars hit a fence, causing me to go down. I still have a tiny scar on my wrist from that incident.

This is just a funny bike related story:
Jane was visiting me and she saw my newest bike and she said, "Hey, that's cool - I used to have a bike just like that." To which I replied, "Huh. Did you leave it in mom and dad's garage?"
(In my defense, mom and dad were on their mission at the time and they said I could take any bike out of the garage that I wanted and by this time in my life I wasn't as interested in the pink one.)

Recently, I decided I want to start doing triathlons. I did one with Sleakbean back in the day and we had a lot of fun. Plus, it's always nice to have something to train for. So, naturally, I bought a road bike. (My stolen from Jane bike is a mountain bike.) Being the want-to-be-savvy biker that I am, I got a fancier model, i.e. one that has pedals that you have to clip your shoes into. It is what those who are serious about biking do, so that's what I did, because I want to be serious about biking.

I was a little nervous to take it out the first time because, to be honest, I never was really good at turning. But I figured I could only learn by doing, so I got geared up and headed out. I headed to Antrum Park and started north on the Olentangy River trail. To my surprise, turning wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Road bikes are much lighter than mountain bikes, so I felt like I had much more control than with my old bike.

The first trial came not long into a ride. There is a point on the trail where you must go over a bridge, make a nearly 180 degree turn and then go under the bridge. I know myself and I knew I couldn't make this turn, so I came up with a plan. Where the turn occurs, the trail actually goes straight for a bit into a parking lot. I decided I would go straight, turn around on my feet and then go on. I thought I could unclip one foot, stop, unclip the other foot and then go from there. As I was approaching my stopping place, I unclipped my right foot and prepared to stop. It was here that I learned something very interesting about myself. It turns out that without even realizing it, I always get off my bike on the left. So, I stopped the bike, and my reflexes told my brain to move my left leg down, but unfortunately my left leg was still clipped into the pedal, so before I knew it, I was on the ground. It really takes talent to fall off a bike when you are prepared to stop, but that is me. I fell in front of a group of forty something soccer dads on roller blades, who asked if I was okay, which of course I was. One of them told me that I was going to wrong way to the bike trail and told me the way to go. Of course I knew the way to go, and I had to pretend like that was my intention all along and that I hadn't just been thinking that the smart thing to do would be to go right back the way I came and completely give up my designs on biking that day.

I clipped back in and headed back down the trail, now with a bruised knee and a bleeding shin. And now with the added stress of realizing I was probably going to die. I tried to calm myself down by thinking, what's the worst that could happen? But then I thought that the worst that could happen was that I could break my leg in a horrible manner and that I would never be able to use it again. I just concentrated on pedaling. I was about half way to the Worthington library (the end of the trail going north) when I realized: I have no idea how I am going to be able to turn around and get back on the trail. I probably got a better aerobic workout than I maybe would have because my brain was telling my hear to panic. Luckily, I did not remember what the Worthington area was like and when I got there, there was a big loop for bikers to just ride around and get back on the trail. Whew! Crisis averted!

But no! New crisis! I still didn't know how to stop. Sweet Lady Jane! - I am literally strapped into this death machine! I might just have to ride this until I die from exhaustion! And then I realized that I still had the hairpin turn to deal with. I practiced unclipping and clipping a few times to where I felt like I could at least get both feet unclipped at the same time. I approached the turn and slowed down, with both feet carefully unclipped. I managed to stop and get both legs on the ground. I didn't dare actually swinging one leg over the bike, so I just kind of walked my way forward up the bridge. There were a few people around me, so I "rested" a bit to let them by so I wouldn't embarrass myself getting back on my bike and going down the road. To my chagrin, two young men walked by and, perhaps noticing the distress that was emanating from my body, asked if I needed help. I told them that I was fine, but thanks. One eyed me uncertainly, taking in my bloody knee and asked if I was sure. Now I had no choice but to continue on. I assured them that all was well and slowly got my bike going again.

I approached the end of my ride with some trepidation, realizing that my usual method of stopping when I don't know how was to either fall over or run into something. Realizing that with a padded room not available at the end of the ride I would have to try another method, I practiced unclipping and clipping a few more times. I reached the park, and happily was able to unclip and stop, with only a few minor bruises to my thighs from stopping juuuuuust a bit too quickly.

Hopefully my relationship with my bike with improve. I'd like to think that I just need to work at it more, but that precludes the idea that I actually have a bit of balance in my body. But, as it's the only plan I've got so far, I guess it's the one I'm going to have to take. Plan B being a broken leg, but let's hope it doesn't come to that.

thanks

2011-06-02T19:36:00.002-04:00

It's been a year and a bit since my dad died. It's hard to believe that sometimes. It hasn't been my favorite year, of course. There's been loads of ups and downs. One of the hardest things has been feeling like people have forgotten about it and that I'm just kind of on my own with my family, who are all also going through a rough time. And I know that's okay - everyone has their own life and this is my own trial. But still, it's nice to have people think of you from time to time.

In the month of May (which is my least favorite month, except for days with both a 3 and a 1 in them, for Shannon and Stevie) which I expected to be a hard month, this is what happened:
- I got a card in the mail. I love getting real letters in the mail. I always hope for something personal, but it doesn't happen very often, so it was lovely getting something to open and read and tell me that she hopes I'm doing well this month.
- I came home from school after taking a test that I knew I did awful on to find a lovely bouquet of flowers. At first I was jealous of my roommate, but, oh how delightful to find they were for me! (In honor of my dad's death - as a reminder that people care for me.) (I'm one of "those girls" that just really loves getting flowers.)
- I got a text from a fellow member of the Dead Father's Club saying he didn't want to be too "touchy feely" but if I every wanted to talk, I could.
- I got an email with a humorous condolence poem - again, just to let me know that they were thinking of me at this hard time. (Did you know condolence poems can be humorous? They can.)
- I got many calls from one of my dearest friends, just checking up on me.
- I got a message on my facebook wall, again, with condolences.
- My roommate is just pretty much kind and understanding all the time and always willing to listen to whatever seems to find it's way out of my mouth.

So pretty much all mediums of communication were utilized to help me know people were thinking of me. I feel like I probably got a bunch of prayers too, even if the communication to me personally wasn't there. So, all of you - thanks. And thanks too, for everyone else for trying to understand, when I don't even understand it myself. I know I've stood you up and let you down and just been generally disagreeable and unreliable. In the words of Jackie Faber, "I am very hard on my friends." So, thanks for sticking with me and letting me cry and helping me get through it, when it really is my own cross to bear. Just knowing you're nearby helps more than you know.

Also, you should visit my sister's blog, because she has some pretty cool projects she's worked on.

run fatgirl run

2011-05-10T22:07:00.003-04:00

I know I haven't been blogging much. I'd say I'm sorry, but it would probably be a lie. But, for my two faithful followers (you know who you are), here's a post. (Warning: it's not very funny.)

Last Saturday I ran in the Cap City half marathon. It was quite delightful. A while ago, Raskolnikov wrote a post on his blog about how he believes marathons are pointless. I'd go back and read it again, but I'm lazy. I think the basic idea was that marathons are inconvenient for a lot of people who aren't participating in them and that people can just run the miles themselves. I agree with both of these points. Except with an organized race you have the benefits of having water and first aid stations every few miles, getting prizes and food at the end and having people cheer you on.

The people cheering you on is probably one of the best thing that keeps you going. It's a well established fact that I'm not the best at training for races. I always have good intentions, but you know where those lead you. My goal for this race was simply to run the whole way. With spectators every mile along the way, it was much easier to keep my goal. Sure, I didn't have it written on my face that I wasn't going to walk at all, so no one would have called me on it. But just being out there and knowing that people would see me if I walked was enough during the difficult miles. It's nice hearing, "You're doing great!" and "You're almost there!" even if I know that neither of those are true. Plus some random kid, probably right out of the dorms, had slices of oranges that turned out to not be drugged (I ate one) and it was just a very nice thing for him to do for us runners. It's highly doubtful that I would have gotten that if I'd just been on my own 13.1 mile run that day. (And more likely that I would have been drugged.) It's also unlikely that I would have gotten a medal at the end of a run sponsored by just myself. And who doesn't like getting medals? (Answer: no one.) (Even if they end up sitting in a drawer for a while, I still earned a medal.)

This is how bad I am at blogging: that was my second half marathon, the first being in Dayton last fall. And I now have three marathons under my belt as well (Nashville; Dublin, Ireland, and Myrtle Beach). I've thought about blogging about them all, of course, but I just never got around to it. But, at least now you know.

So, when you see a marathon, or any kind of race, really, go ahead and cheer, even if it's just for a few minutes. We really appreciate it.

happy easter!

2011-04-17T17:26:00.000-04:00

Once upon a time, when I took New Testament back at BYU, my professor gave us a list of readings to be read the week of Easter, to help prepare for that important day. Of course, I lost that list a long time ago, but luckily dear Mrs. Weasely posted a similar (or perhaps exact, I don't know) list on her blog last year, that I am stealing and posting here. Happy Easter!

Easter Readings
Sunday (Palm Sunday)
• Matthew 21:1‐17
• Mark 11:1‐11
• Luke 19:28‐48
• John 12:12‐19

Monday
• Matthew 21:18‐46, 22:1‐14
• Luke 19:47‐48, 21:37
• Mark 11:12‐19; 12:28‐34

Tuesday
• Matthew 22:15‐46, 23
• Mark 12:20‐44, 13
• John 12:20‐50

Wednesday
• Matthew 24, 25
• Luke 20, 21

Thursday (The Last Supper and Gethsemane)
• Matthew 26
• Mark 14
• Luke 22
• John 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18:1‐27

Friday (Good Friday)
• Matthew 27
• Mark 15
• Luke 23
• John 18:28‐40, 19
• 3 Nephi 8

Saturday
• 3 Nephi 9, 10
• Doctrine & Covenants 138

Sunday (Easter)
• Matthew 28
• Mark 16
• Luke 24
• John 20:1‐18

gospel truths

2011-03-28T21:14:00.000-04:00

My sister Lydia and her husband Mr. Wickham are primary teachers to the five year olds in their ward. (Following the trend in the church to put newly weds in a place that will be the best birth control for them.) They were teaching a lesson on the word of wisdom when this exchange took place:

Brother Wickham: What are some things that we shouldn't drink so we can be healthy?
Little Girl 1: Coffee
Little Girl 2: Beer
Little Boy: Blood

.....which is probably why the Mormons have such problems finding converts among the vampire population.

elevator etiquette

2011-03-14T20:23:00.000-04:00

Did you know that when you are riding an elevator, it is polite to let women on and off first? I did not know this until I started working at my current place of employ, where my office is on the 22nd floor.

And did you also know that if you are the lone woman among men riding down to the first floor after a day's work and the elevator stops and you poke your head out and think the elevator has stopped on the third floor and therefore you don't get out and everyone else is kind of staring at you in a funny way and the doors start to close and one of the men has to reach out quickly and stop it from shutting and then you realize that you actually are on the first floor and that everyone has just been politely waiting for you to get a move on Missy, so we can all get out of here.... that it is extremely awkward when you do finally get off the elevator?

Let me tell you... it is.

fire and ice

2011-02-03T19:58:00.000-05:00

As you know, if you're alive and have access to any kind of news (whether it be tv, internet, newspaper, office water cooler, whatever) there has been a rather larger winter storm in most of the Midwest the last few days. Other people can tell you about it on their blogs. As always, my blog focuses on me.

Well, Tuesday my car was encased in an ice shell, so I didn't even try to go to work. But I dug it out and went to work on Wednesday. However, I decided to make an easy morning of it. I decided to actually have breakfast at home. (Mom: I eat breakfast everyday, but usually it's an English muffin or some yogurt when I get to work.) I didn't want to go all out with pancakes or french toast or anything like that. But plain old cereal seemed a bit boring, especially when I was going to be stealing my roommate's milk anyway. So I decided on oatmeal - it was still a hot breakfast, but it doesn't take much work. (And I could use the already-stolen-at-heart milk.)

And what goes better with oatmeal than some nice brown sugar? After I'd put a few spoonfuls (well, really handfuls, as I was too lazy to get out another spoon) I thought, Oh dear, I just set this bag of brown sugar on the burner that was just being used to cook my oatmeal, I wonder what is going to happen next. Most people would think it through a bit first, but I just picked up the bag and, as you imagine, sent brown sugar flying through the kitchen from the hole burned through the bottom of the bag.

Now Scarlet had two reasons to be mad at me - the milk, and the fact that she scoured the kitchen the day before. Of course, I'm not quite the World's Worst Roommate, maybe just in the bottom ten, so I did clean it up instead of leaving it for her. It turns out, according to the Internet, that pretty much the only way to get melted plastic off a burner is to allow it to cool and then scrape as much off as you can and burn off the rest. It also turns out that plastic bags don't scrape off very well; they peal off okay, but not all the way, leaving melted plastic and sugar still plentifully attached. The sugar doesn't dissolve well either. But both burn off pretty well. The sugar is an excellent fuel source and creates some nice little contained flames, and the smell of burning brown sugar nicely compliments the smell of burning plastic. In case you wanted to know.

And that is the story of the fifth thing in my life that I've caught on fire on a burner, including a knife and a few oven mitts. Fourth or fifth - I can't really remember how many oven mitts I've set on fire now. Including the one that was supposed to be non-flammable. But that might have been on purpose just to see.

resolute!

2011-01-11T19:30:00.004-05:00

I don't usually make New Year's resolutions because I figure if I need to improve, I can (and should) start improving any old time. But, to be with the season of things, here are some of the goals that I've been working on that might as well be resolutions that I hope to accomplish this year.

1. Improve my mile pace to between 9 and 10 minutes. Yes, I realize that this is not very fast, but with my short little legs and short stride, it would be fast for me.

2. Be able to do 1 non-assisted pull up. (I mean be able to do one any time someone asks me to - not just do one during the year.) Again, yes, I realize this isn't much, but girls don't naturally have very much upper body strength. (Side note: for reasons that I don't really understand, most boys are just love pull ups. Every boy I've ever dated (and others besides) has wanted me to be able to do a pull up. To me, it seems that being able to do pull ups just shows off your upper body strength. And while this is desirable in a man, it seems like it would be less of a big deal in a woman. But, if other girls can do pull ups, then I can do it too.)

3. Read 50 books. You'd think this wouldn't be hard for me, but with everything that happened last year (well, mostly my dad) I kind of stopped reading and I want to get back into it. I think I only read about 6 books since May and that's just plain disgraceful.

4. Finish reading the Old Testament. Yeah, I started it like two years ago and I'm still only to Job, but slow and steady wins the race, right?

5. Read the Sunday School lesson before Sunday School each week. (Well, let's just say most weeks.) It's no secret that I struggle with Sunday School, so maybe if I'm better prepared, I'll get more out of it. Plus, in our ward at least, Sunday School was good the last two weeks in a row! (Well, the classes I was in - I can't say about the others.) It gives one hope.... (I mean, I'll read even the lessons that I'm not teaching. Of course I'll read the ones that I am teaching.) (Also, I did not teach the last two weeks.)

There you have it. They are quantifiable and written down - that's what makes it a good goal right? I don't remember now. It's probably in one of the Sunday School lessons.....

welcome to neeleyville*

2010-12-21T19:09:00.001-05:00

A while ago when I was home, I came across this little gem in our china cabinet:

(Sorry about the glare)

Then a few months later I found this at my aunt's house:

And just a few days ago when I went home, I spotted this beauty:

Perhaps this will give you a little insight into the wonderful world of the Neeley family and perhaps explain some things.

Merry Headless Joseph Christmas and God Bless Us, Everyone, No Matter What Upper Body Parts We May Be Missing!

*According to my family history, there really used to be a place in Idaho called Neeleyville, but according to Widipedia, I can't find anything else about it out. But you know you've made it Big when you have a town named after you in Idaho.

the breaking of the fellowship....

2010-12-06T20:00:00.000-05:00

About a month and a half ago I was released from my calling as the co-chair of the activities committee. I will not lie, I was pretty happy to be released. It was not my favorite calling. There are some things I'll miss about it, and it was easy working with Legolas as the other co-chair since we were already such good friends, but for the most part, I'm happy to move on. For ever since I've moved into this ward, the activities committee chair was always the "marriage" calling. People would generally get released when they were getting married. There were a few exceptions, but not many. I was released without that honor. (Though, I was dating a nice young man for a while when I had that calling, which is probably the best the universe could do with what it had to work with in me.) Legolas was kind of mad he has been in longer than I had been, but he didn't get released. He's on his third co-chair now. I think the universe probably hasn't given up on him yet, which is why he's still in. He still has a chance to be released in the "other" way.

I feel kind of like I broke something because two weeks after I was released, the church announced that they're doing away with the activities committees, with the auxiliary committees taking up the slack. (Our ward hasn't made the change yet, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time.) So, stay tuned in about a year or so with what happens with my new calling, which is teaching Sunday School....

encounters at the grocery store

2010-09-23T22:38:00.000-04:00

So, I was at my local Kroger tonight, looking for molasses. I looked all over the baking isle, which is where I thought it would be, but I couldn't find it. So then I thought it was probably in the syrup section, but I couldn't find that either. I thought it would be by the pancake section, but that was also the baking isle and, well, now we're back where we started. As it was after 10, there wasn't much in the way of people to ask, other than stockers and even those were few and far between.

Finally I found a young kid who looked promising. (Now, before I tell this story, I just want to say that he was very young - maybe 18 tops - and probably didn't have much baking experience especially with molasses.) I asked him where I might find some molasses and he looked at me a second, puzzled. Then he put his hand up to his mouth and said, miming, "Like for smoking?"

And really, who among us hasn't thought of smoking molasses at one point or another in our lives? I dare say we all have. I was spared answering the question (forever leaving myself to wonder if we were both indeed thinking of the same kind of molasses) when another woman walked by, who I could ask. (And, by the way, I was right - it was in the syrup section, which was in the cereal section, which I really should have thought of. I guess.)

So, I happily checked out and as I was leaving, another young man nearly ran over me. But he apologized by raising his case of beer and saying, "Cheers to you!" Then looking closer at my bags he said, "Oh wait - that's not beer you have. It's cling wrap. Well, cheers anyway!"

the return

2010-09-22T18:54:00.000-04:00

I have some GREAT news for you! Kristin and Erin's online book club is back after a many months hiatus (my fault). So head on over and check it out.

Kristin and Erin's online book club.

team edward 4 life!!

2010-09-16T21:58:00.000-04:00

Okay, you and I both know I'm not a Twilight fan. But I have to say I'm definitely on "Team Edward" because I have the most amazing brother-in-law in the world: Todd Edward Gardner. He is my favorite brother-in-law, by far. Most of it is, of course, how he treats my sister, Lydia. (Originally I wrote Bella there, but it creeped me out too much, so I changed it back to Lydia, as it should be.) He loves her oh so very much and takes the best care of her. He can see her for the wonderful woman that she is and he makes sure she know she loves her. It is a wonderful thing for me, as her sister, to see. On top of that, he's just a fun guy to be around. He integrated himself into our slightly crazy family and accepts each one of us for who we are. From the very beginning it seemed like he was already a part of the family that we'd been missing and I don't know how we did without him. So, here's to Todd Edward! Thanks for being so great.

(But, don't get a big head... you can move into second place brother-in-law at any moment if you slip up, and you know we'll be watching you.)

Heart!

(Note: I currently only have one brother-in-law.)

number 8 on the list of things not to do at a cemetery

2010-09-06T21:17:00.001-04:00

I went to Utah this last weekend.

(To my Utah friends: I know, I know. I'm sorry I didn't tell you I was coming. I was really only there Saturday and Sunday and I knew I wouldn't have time to see you, so I didn't tell you. Please forgive me.)

On Sunday, my two sisters who live in Utah, Lizzy and Lydia, and I decided to go up to Brigham City and visit dad. It was the first time I've been up there since he was buried. At that time, we hadn't gotten the headstone yet and I wanted to see it. And I just wanted to visit him.

The evening before, I went to a wedding reception. They had flowers on the tables with vases that they said we could keep, so I took a vase and a few flowers to bring up to put on the grave. But the vase was very light and after putting it on the grave, it kept tipping over. After one of the tippings, I said I should probably take the vase anyway because there was a sign upon entering the cemetery that said not to bring glass or wire onto the grounds.

"What?" said Lydia. "This isn't glass! It's plastic - watch!"

And before we could stop her, she took the vase and hit it against the cement at the base of the headstone, whereupon it promptly shattered as it was, in fact, glass, spilling flowers, water, glass and little blue pebbles all over the ground.

The three of us looked on in shock for a second and then burst out laughing.

"Well, that solves the problem of the vase," I said.

"At least it was on mom's side and not dad's," Lydia said.

At least, indeed. We left the flowers sans vase by the headstone, thinking dad probably wouldn't care if there was a vase or not. Or even if there were flowers.

Lessons learned:
- When your sister tells you that a vase is made of glass, maybe find some way to test that other than breaking the vase on your father's grave, even though dad probably laughed just as hard as we did.

sometimes it's not better to be safe than sorry

2010-08-31T17:57:00.000-04:00

I read a quote once that said something like, "If you wish to live a life free of pain, you must do without many things." I think it is saying, in effect, that you have to take risks sometimes, even if you might end up getting hurt in the end. If you don't ever want to get hurt then you'll live life in a way that keeps you safe, but is boring and doesn't bring you to your full potential.

That's a pretty weighty introduction to the real point of this post, which is that I made the switch to the new iPhone.

My old phone was making me crazy. It didn't ring half the time. It sent text messages hours later. Plus, my contract with T-Mobile was up. And I'd dropped my iTouch enough times that it was starting to have troubles of its own. So I just decided to combine the phone and iPod and get the new iPhone. Yes, I know that some people have antenna problems. Yes, it is a little bit more expensive than my old phone. But these are risks that sometimes just have to be taken. (Yeah, I realized that I'm comparing my iPhone to life.) And maybe it will end up that this switch will break my heart and make me frustrated and angry. But sometimes you just have to take a risk in order to end up with a really rocking phone. Plus, it feeds my crazy need to always check my email and find out answers to questions right now.

So, don't be afraid to take risks my friend. Sometimes you end up getting burned and sometimes you end up happier than you thought you'd be.

and the last shall be first

2010-08-24T21:00:00.000-04:00

Lydia got married a few weekends ago. I thought I would have more to say about it, but I really don't. It was very happy because she is so happy with Mr. Wickham. But it had undertones of sadness because dad wasn't there (in person). So... I'll just post some pictures. (That's all people want from blogs anyway, isn't it?)

Hooray for Uncle and Aunt Gardner!

where's that terrible towel when i need it?

2010-08-17T21:49:00.000-04:00

I went home to visit my mother this weekend. We had a lovely time together. I love my mother. But that is actually irrelevant to this post.

Here are the relevant bits of information:
1. Mom lives in Pittsburgh.
2. Uncle Steve also lives in Pittsburgh.
3. Uncles Steve (and family) love Steelers football.
4. There was a pre-season Steelers game last Saturday.
5. Uncle Steve had extra tickets to the Steelers game on Saturday.
6. Up until about 3 seconds ago, I thought it was spelled "Stealers" and I didn't know why it was being underlined in red.

Okay, that last one wasn't really relevant, but maybe it was interesting. (Probably not.) Anyway, as you are very good at deduction, you have figured out by now that mom and I went to the football game with Steve last Saturday night, plus my cousins Eleanor and Alex. I'd only ever been to one pro football game before in my life, at I was maybe twelve years old at the time, so it was a interesting experience, even though it was just "pre-season." I enjoyed the action and seeing the plays from a totally new angle than on tv.

As interesting as football is (which incidentally isn't as interesting as baseball, in my opinion) this post wouldn't be very exciting unless Something Happened at the Game. In this case, the Something was rain. Our seats were under an overhang, so we didn't get the worst of it. Until the wind started. Then we were in the same boat (ha ha) as everyone else. We headed for higher ground, along with most of the others in the stadium. An announcement came on the PA and the jumbo tron that the game was being postponed for now. We were pretty much stranded in the stands of the stadium. This is when Alex turned to Uncle Steve and said, "Dad, can we get some nachos?" Oh Alex. So innocent and undeterred by the weather. Luckily he found an unopened bag of chips to tide him over until the rain lessoned enough (about an hour later) to send him and Eleanor out for supplies. (That is one of the benefits of being an adult - you get to make your younger cousins your minions.)

Okay, so maybe this post wasn't actually as exciting as I thought it would be as I was writing it in my head in the stadium. But it seemed memorable at the time. One of those things where Eleanor and I will say to each other years from now, "Remember that Steelers game we went to with hurricane force winds and rain?" And we'll smile at each other knowingly and remember it.

I'll just end with a deep thought by Jack Handy:
"Most of the time it was probably a read bad thing being stuck down in a dungeon. But some days, when there was a bad storm outside, you'd look out your little window and think, 'Boy, I'm glad I'm not out in THAT'."

life and the minneapolis airport

2010-08-12T00:26:00.001-04:00

I was in the Minneapolis airport this weekend; just passing through on my way to my sister Lydia's wedding. (More on that in another post.) (probably)

For me, life is a lot like the Minneapolis airport. Sometimes it catches you completely off guard. Like when I got off the plane and I felt like I'd been punched in the gut because my brain forgot to prepare me for being there. As soon as I got off the plane I realized the last time I was there was when I was on my way home from Hawaii and I got an urgent message from Big Brother to call him. I didn't want to because I knew what he'd tell me, so I delayed. I finished reading the book I was reading. I shuffled around a bit. And finally I called. And he told me the news about my dad. When I got off the plane this time all those memories rushed back in a second - how I wandered around like a lost soul weeping; wanting to call someone and talk about it but just not being able to. I was angry at my brain for repressing the memory. So, sometimes life is hard and sad and it sucker punches you when you're not looking.

As I was walking around, feeling angry at the airport for its past wrongs against me, I realized that I had pleasant memories of the airport as well. I remembered the time I almost missed my connecting flight to Washington because I had a long layover so I made the goal to walk to every single gate in the airport and I was too stubborn to give up when time was running short. And the time that I met up with Sleakbean on our way to London and we found the creepy Proactiv vending machine and I accidentally went into the men's restroom. And the time Lady MacBeth and I changed into our pajamas and Legolas made fun of us when the three of us were on our way to Japan. (It was worth all the mocking to be in our jammies for the long flight.)

So, I guess the point is (if there really is a point?) I can't hate the Minneapolis airport because of one bad thing that happened to me there. I'm still sad about the event, of course, but there were a lot of happy events there too. And it's still a jumping off place for going to a lot of other places. The analogy is that in life a lot of sad and bad things happen, but I can't hate that either. My life isn't just the bad things. It's the sum total of all the events in my life. All the good and bad that happen are just part of what makes up the whole experience. Sometimes things go smoothly and sometimes they're delayed and sometimes you realize that you've been waiting at the wrong gate for an hour. On the whole, my life is actually pretty great - filled with moving walkways and over priced massage chairs.

But I still probably shouldn't wander into the men's restroom.

i swear, baby, he means nothing to me

2010-08-03T22:31:00.000-04:00

Legolas and I were hanging out tonight when he found out that I am an adulteress. It is never a good feeling to get caught cheating. I suppose the way to avoid those feelings is to not cheat in the first place. I don't know what I was thinking, but I really just thought I wouldn't get caught.

He was sitting at my computer checking on something, when he found the incriminating evidence.

"What is this?!" he asked, accusingly, picking it up from beside my computer and brandishing it at me.

I paled, knowing there was no way I could talk my way out of it. "Listen," I said trying to think of an explanation, "It's just that...."

He cut me off. "This is a thank you note from a dentist! I can't believe you went to another dentist, Kristin! Don't I mean anything to you?"

"You do! You do!" I protested. "It's not from a dentist, anyway. It's from an endodontist! Right after everything with my dad I chipped my very back tooth, but of course I didn't feel like getting it fixed then. I just got around to doing it now and I had to get a root canal to get it fixed. I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"

He was silent a few moments. "You know that dentists can do root canals, right?"

"Yes, I do know that," I said, desperate to make him understand. "When I lived in Utah my dentist did a root canal. But my dentist out here said she didn't want to do it and I needed to go to the endo guy. He was really nice. It didn't hurt at all and it feels a lot better."

Legolas looked at me, piercingly. "So, you went to another dentist first, before you had the root canal. I see."

I knew I was beat now. There was no way out. "I know. I'm sorry. It's not that I don't trust you - I do! It's just that the dental school always takes so long and it's hard with my work schedule. I'm really sorry." He didn't say anything. "Can we still be friends?"

He sighed. "Kristin, you know I'll always forgive you. It's a low blow, but you mean more to me than that other dentist. Just... let's talk about it first next time and see if we can work something out. It's doing better, your tooth?"

"Yes," I said. "It was really hurting last week, which is why I had to finally go in. But the endodontist got it all squared away and I'm feeling a lot better."

"Well," he said forgivingly, "that is what's important. I'm glad you're feeling good. Let me see it."

I let him look in my mouth and was grateful for my forgiving friend.

But let it be a lesson to you - you'll always get caught in the end if you cheat.

there's traps and there's traps

2010-07-25T10:22:00.000-04:00

I don't know why this story is in my head lately, but I figure i'll share it. When my sister Lizzy still lived in Houston, I went to visit her. We went to the Rothko Chapel with her friend Tye. Just to make conversation I asked him what he liked to do. He told me, "Pretty much all I do is work on my traps." And I was thinking, well, that's kind of weird, but this is Texas. I wonder if he has a lot of animals around his house and if he kills them and skins them or if he lets the animals go. And also, I wonder why anyone would build their own traps, but again, everyone has their own hobbies. And I wonder what kind of mechanisms he uses for his traps and if he's trying to build better and newer traps that will change the world of trapping as we know it. I asked him what kind of traps he was building and it turns out he meant something completely different than what I was thinking. I was a little disappointed because I was just starting to get excited by all this trapping stuff.

But the Rothko Chapel was pretty neat.

broken promises don't upset me; i just think - why did they believe me?

2010-07-21T21:27:00.002-04:00

Well, I know I said I'd stop being serious, but I guess I've had a hard time not being so serious lately. I've felt exceptionally sad this last little while because of my dad, most of all, and other life events. (To those of you who just thought, "Yeah, I know what 'life events' she means, heh heh heh." I say to you, mmmmmmmnnnnnnnttttt!!*) Sometimes the weight of it all seems like too much and I wonder how I can ever get through it. And then I realize that there is no other way but through. I can either get through it or I can die, I suppose, but I don't think that would help my family out very much. The most important thing to me is whether or not I can get through it all with grace. So far, I don't think I'm doing a bang up job, but luckily I have an awful lot of help.

And even though I sometimes feel it is too much, I also sometimes feel like the windows of heaven have truly been opened and I don't have room to recieve all the things I'm being blessed with. I feel like my heart has been greatly healed by the amazing friends and family I have. It means the world to me just to have people let me know they're thinking about me, even if they maybe don't realize why they are and that they are helping me so much.

I know I run the risk of offending people when I name people by name, because I will undoubtedly leave someone out, but I just want those of you to know that you have been such a blessing to me! Though I'm pretty reserved by nature and don't usually reach out to other people, it means so much when people reach out to me and just let me know that they're thinking about me and that we're still friends. I get text messages from Erika almost every other day letting me know she likes me and donuts. I got an email from two old roommates - both named Natalie - in one day just saying they were thinking about me. Andrew and Sachi started chatting with me in gchat just to say hi. Steve said hi in Facebook and said he would come visit if I wanted him to. Cody, Brandi and Stacey all emailed me. And Braden, for just commenting on my blog every once in a while, so I know he's still reading it. Kate is always emailing and texting and asking how she can help. And of course there is Stephen, who is one of the best friends a girl can have. He calls and texts and emails and lets me know that I'm doing okay. And as a sign of true friendship, he's been on time to the things we do together for me, just because he knows how much it means to me. He's really been there for me when I've needed him.

One of the most touching is Kacey and Erin who are taking me on a trip to Las Vegas, just so I can have something to look forward to and a reason to get away. I'm not sure I would have ever thought to do that for someone else, but I just felt their friendship so much when they told me that they had been secretly plotting this for me. I started crying at work, which is always fairly awkward, but luckily I work with mostly men, so I don't think anyone noticed.

So, life is hard, but good at the same time. I struggle through the best I can and you take me for what I am. And I do think I'm learning something from all of this. At least I hope I am.

I don't have a picture this time - so how about a link to one of my favorite BYU devotionals instead? (You can skip most of the beginning, unless you are really interested in learning about the history of nursing at BYU. The rest is amazing.)

Learning the Healer's Art

*That is me sticking my tongue out at you

count your many blessings

2010-07-14T22:23:00.000-04:00

I want to apologize. When I started this blog, my intent was only to write about frivolous things to make you laugh. And here is yet another fairly serious post. I just want to write a little bit about my blessings - specifically the people blessings I have in my life. After this, I promise I'll get back to frivolity.

First of all, of course, is my great family. I have wonderful parents who have taught me so much about how to live and how to love. And even though my dad is gone, I know he still loves me and is looking after me. And my mom is just great - so much strength! She is charity personified. I hope I'm ever so slowly getting to be more like her. I have three wonderful sisters who take me for who I am. They give me good advice and put up with all my craziness. And a great brother who looks after me like all big brothers should. I've really enjoyed living here in Columbus with him. And then there's my extended family. I'm really lucky to have great aunts and uncles and cousins who I can be friends with and who are just so much fun to be around.

I have some great friends too. I was having a rough day this week, so I called up my old buddy, Kreston because I knew he would tell me that I'm amazing and wonderful and even if it's not really true, it's nice knowing I can always hear that from him. It made me miss our old nights of sitting on his front step talking about anything and everything going on in our lives while I would weave things out of grass and promise that I really am giving up swearing this time and secretly wish for his creepy cat to die. (Side note: now that my secret wish has come true, I kind of feel bad for the "cat".) Life moves on and sometimes we move to Ohio, but it's nice to still have those old friends - Kreston and Erin and Kacey and Anne and Stacey and Caryn and Rebecca. (And many more that I'm not naming, but you know who you are.) They are the blessings of my time in Utah and it means a lot to me that we're still friends and I can still talk to them about seriously anything. It meant the world to me that Erin and Kacey showed up at my father's burial. And that they always tell me they can hop on the next flight and be here or meet me where ever I want, and to know that they actually mean it.

I have wonderful friends here in Ohio too. There's Erin who was my first friend here and who still sticks by me. And Stephen who dropped everything and came over the other night just because I wanted someone to talk to even though he had a big test the next day. And Lauren who is just a nice supportive roommate. (side note: I always seem to luck out in the roommate department; I haven't had many weirdo roommates. Which leads me to believe that I must be the weirdo roommate in most situations.) And Kate who is always thinking of me and how to help me and make me laugh. And Jacob who is just a good example of trying to do what's right. And everyone else in the ward who just thinks of little things to do and say to me, like sending a post card just to let me know you're thinking of me. It helps me so much.

I feel like I don't deserve to have such wonderful friends. I'm such a homebody - I just stay home and don't ever ask anyone to do anything with me. I don't feel like I am as good of a friend to you as you are to me, but I am grateful for all of you, even if I didn't specifically mention you. I take so much more than I give; I know that, but I just want you to know that I'm really grateful for you. (side note: I'm not saying this so that you'll comment saying that I really am I good friend. I know I could do so much better.)

So, thanks to all of you who have stuck with me, even though I am so very hard on you sometimes. You make my life so much the better!

the waiting is the hardest part

2010-06-09T22:03:00.002-04:00

Everyone always says the first year after a death is the hardest. You think, last Christmas we had such a great time in the new house. And, this is his first birthday that he's not here. And, last year on June 9th he hadn't even started feeling sick yet. It's rough.

But no one ever tells you how hard the first month is, or how you'll think things like, "On May 9th he was still alive." Or how you feel that first week. "I talked to him on the phone a week ago." Or the first day when you're just wandering around in a fog, wondering what on earth could have happened.

Nothing can prepare you for way you feel. Even weeks later you'll be feeling fine and the next moment you'll be crying at work, hoping no one sees you and asks to help. No on tells you that you won't want to do anything for fear that you'll always associate that thing with your father's death. Will I forever think about dad when someone mentions Hawaii because I was on my way home when I found out?

And even though I firmly believe in the plan of salvation and everything that it entails, all the Sunday School lessons in the world didn't prepared me for feeling sad. I just miss my dad. I want to talk to him about how the Indians are doing this year. And how my job is going. And the Werewolf and Legolas and Lady MacBeth. I just want to sit and fall asleep on the couch while he watches whatever golf tournament is currently on tv.

I wasn't ready for how emotional I would be all the time. I can start crying at the drop of a hat and for no apparent reason - when I'm not even talking about dad. I wonder how people can treat me normally as if nothing has happened, but I get angry when people treat me differently too. I'm almost constantly thinking of dad and how I feel because he's gone.

When we were talking to people at the funeral, a few people who had also lost their parents told us, "it never gets easier." At first I thought this was a not very helpful thing to say. But the more I think about it, the more I think it is perhaps the most helpful thing after all. Everyone wants to say something to us, but hardly anyone knows what to say. People who have never lost anyone close have no idea how hard it is. You don't just grieve a week or two and then get over it. It's a long lasting hole in your gut that can't be filled. But people who have lost someone, well, that's a different story. And, "It never gets easier" doesn't mean that everyday for the rest of my life I'm going to feel this overwhelming sadness. It doesn't get easier, but I suspect it gets different.

In this life there is a time for mourning, but there is also a time for rejoicing. And sometimes these times are actually the same times. I will always feel sad that dad isn't around, but I will always feel joy for the man that he is and the things he taught me. I can be happy with the things happening in my life, but still be sad that dad is seeing them from the other side and not here making his subtly funning remarks about them. That's how it never gets easier - the missing of the person you love. But it gets different because I can know that my dad loves me and will be with me, even if I can't talk to him. And I can miss him and still have peace that things will work out. Just because I'm sad doesn't mean that my testimony of Jesus Christ has lessoned. In fact, it has grown. I know things will work out, even if they aren't how I would have planned them myself.

I'll always miss my dad. And while I'm waiting for things to get different, I'm glad for the people around me who understand, or at least try to, and who let me grieve in my own way.

So, so long, Bruce. I'm sure I'll see you again sooner than I could realize. Love you!

frazzled part 2

2010-05-07T20:35:00.002-04:00

One of the benefits of being kind of frazzled (flaky) is that sometimes I'll forget things and when I remember it's a pleasant surprise. Like this recent gchat conversation I had with my sister Lizzy.

Lizzy: What are you doing tonight?

me: Hanging out with Legolas. I'm not sure what we're doing yet, though.

Lizzy: Oh, you haven't hung out with him for a while.

me: I know. It should be fun. Tomorrow he's leaving for a cruise with his family. He travels a lot, you know.

Lizzy: That sounds fun for him.

me: Yeah. But I'm kind of bummed because I'm not sure what I'll do next weekend. The Werewolf has to study pretty much non-stop from now until he takes his boards, so I hardly ever get to see him at all.
me: :(
me: So, who am I going to hang out with next weekend?

Lizzy: :(
Lizzy: ......................
Lizzy: Wait. Aren't you going to Hawaii next weekend?

me: Oh yeah. Problem solved.

Note: I know that there really are any number of people I can hang out with on any given weekend. I just spend most of my time with the Werewolf and Legolas.

nerds in bed

2010-05-04T20:59:00.000-04:00

I couldn't sleep last night. This doesn't happen to me very often and when it does it just makes me crazy. So I laid there for about twenty minutes, and then decided to get up and do something productive with my time as long as I was going to be awake. I guess this is one of the problems with me. Instead of watching tv or reading a book or doing whatever it is people do when they can't sleep, I propped my pillow against the wall and got all snuggled in. I turned on one lamp to set the mood - not too bright, just enough to see by. And then I gathered my books around me and did my chemistry homework.

The funny part is that I actually enjoyed it. I was excited when I realized I actually do know how to find the molar mass of a substance dissolved in cyclohexane when you know the density and the freezing point depression. Before I even realized, it was 1:30 in the morning and I was genuinely tired and able to fall asleep. Not out of boredom, but because that's when my body happened to get tired.

I'm not sure what the moral of the story is here, I'm just glad I got my homework done. Hopefully I can fall asleep tonight because I'm all caught up.

the real problem with twilight OR this post can save your life

2010-04-07T21:59:00.001-04:00

I know there has been quite a lot of debate on the Twilight series. On the one hand, people repute that it teaches teenagers unrealistic expectations about romance - telling them that it doesn't matter how selfish and unconcerned you are about other people, a hundred year old gorgeous man who has had countless opportunities to love and be with other women will love you, a whiny teenager, for no apparent reason. On the other hand, it's popular, and as we all know, popular, like, totally equals good, lol.

I'm not going to address these issues. I have found something more dangerous that I feel needs to be pointed out. (Even more dangerous than reading poorly written romance novels masquerading as fantasies.) Due to its popularity, the Twilight series is proliferating most dangerous and untrue ideas about the nature of magical creatures.

In the first Twilight book, Twilight, on page 248* Edward tells Bella that most myths about vampires are untrue. Sadly, because this books is so widely accepted, people are actually believing this fallacy. This is causing our impressionable teens to believe it is safe to go out without garlic, holy water and holly stakes. The girls might begin to think that if they are with a man who doesn't sparkle in the sunlight and who can't run fifty miles and hour whilst carrying them that he won't try to suck out their soul at night. They might leave their windows open at night, leaving them susceptible to a vampire in bat form to enter. What if a young girl is trapped in an ancient castle and comes across her host sleeping in a coffin? She won't even know to fear for her life!

Twilight is also propagating lies about werewolves. It teaches girls not to be afraid to go out during a full moon, when werewolves transform. It also teaches that Native Americans between the ages of 17 and 25 pretty much run around shirtless all the time and if you make them angry they will transform into a giant wolf and hurt you, even if you are their girlfriend. This teaches girls that Native Americans, while having some rockin' bodies, are abusive domestic partners, which is simply not true. There is the additional issue that all werewolves are Native Americans. According to my extensive research, only about 33% of all werewolves are in fact, Native American**.

(Side note: can anyone tell me what happens when a vampire bites a werewolf? I've been wondering this for a while now.)

Additionally, these books teach that there are only two kinds of magical creatures: vampires and werewolves. This means that girls are not preparing to interact with other kinds of creatures: faries, elves, dwarves, brownies, centaurs, minotaurs, orcs, shades, trolls, balrogs, nazgul, giant spiders, hippogriff, wyverns, giants, leprechauns, goombas, koopa troopas, poes, skulltulas, gobblins, unicorns, ghosts, gouls, basilisks, boggarts, dementors, pheonixes, thestrals, imps, dragons, grindylow, mermaids, pixies, yeti, griffin, astrids, cyclops, wood nymphs, harpies, hydra, zombies, wraiths, sprites, stingbulbs, witches, wizards and warlocks.

So, can we be rational about this? Have a talk with the twilighters in your life about the dangers of magical creatures before it's too late! Don't let the lies in the book spread to the point where it's too late to protect yourselves against the real dangers. And for heaven's sake at least carry a crucifix and a silver bullet with you at all times!

*I made this page number up. I do think it's in the book somewhere, but I'm too lazy to find out.

**According to the werewolves I know of: Remus Lupin. Fenrir Greyback and Jacob Black. I think there are more werewolves in the Twilight books, but I don't know who they are and if I included them it would skew my statistics.

i think i've discovered part of the problem....

2010-03-18T17:30:00.000-04:00

Today after work, as I was walking to my car, I had the following thought process:

"Man, today is such a nice day! It would be really fun to go running today. Yes, today would be a good day for a run. A fun day to run. I'll go for a run when I get home. It would be so fun!"

10 steps later....

"You know what would also be fun? Taking a nap...."

inverse proportions

2010-03-09T00:01:00.001-05:00

It seems a lot of times that my life is governed by some kind of law of inverse proportions. For example, if I want to get to work a half hour early, I end up being an hour late. When I want to lose five pounds, I gain ten. If I want a little time alone, I get twenty invitations to do things, or if I'm feeling particularly social, the invitations dry up. And so on. Recently, I've discovered that it's not my fault. Like most problems in my life, it's all genetics.

Case in point:
About nine months ago, Lizzy decided it would be fun if our whole family tried to participate in the Myrtle Beach marathon, either running or walking the full or half. We knew it might be a hard sell to some of the family members, but it was worth a shot. Plus, we knew a few extended family members might be interested. We figured all in all we might have the seven members of our immediate family, plus maybe five more from the rest of the family for a grand total of twelve Neeleys. That was the original plan.

Then things started happening. I'm actually not sure anyone talked to Big Brother about doing it or not, but he didn't register, so he was out. Lydia couldn't afford to fly out, plus she was in the middle of student teaching, so she was out. Dad was a bit under the weather and stopped training, so he was out. Mom had to take care of dad, so she stopped training and she was out. And then the marathon sold out. So those family members (including Jane) who didn't register were all out. In the end, I gave up my spot to my cousin, Jo, who really wanted to do it because I am the nicest cousin anyone could ask for. (It may have also been that I didn't train, with this in the back of my mind.)

Those still in were Lizzy, Jo, Professor Bhaer and Marmee. Down to four from the original twelve. Still a pretty good showing, if not impressive. And then the day of the race came. And this happened:

(Yes, stolen directly from Jo's blog.)

It snowed in South Carolina. It doesn't happen often, to be sure. The entire marathon was cancelled because the organizers just didn't think it could be done safely.

And, in a way, I think it's partially my fault. We went from having twelve family members to zero. And not only zero, but we ruined it for everyone else. From twelve to negative ten thousand. Way to go, family. Though, it might not be entirely our fault. Maybe your family was registered too.

floracide

2010-02-16T21:28:00.000-05:00

About a year and a half ago, one of my friends offered me a plant. It was a debate as to whether or not I'd take it. On the one hand, it was one of those vine plants that my roommate Amy had when I lived with her and I really like how they look. I thought it would look especially good in my library. But on the other hand, I come from a line of known plant killers. My mother has never been able to keep plants alive. We cringe whenever she gets plants as presents from well-meaning, yet unsuspecting people knowing the plant's days on the planet are numbered. She even managed to kill a cactus once.

In the end vanity won out over practicality and I accepted the plant into my care. It really did look lovely in my library. The first year of ownership went swimmingly well. Mostly this was due to the fact that I lived with Rachel, aka, the plant whisperer. There was seriously no plant that she could not care for. She probably could have nursed any plant to good health. So my role in caring for my newly acquired plant was to let Rachel take care of it. Once she asked me to water it, and all her other plants, for a week when she was gone, but I'm pretty sure I forgot and she had to do damage control when she got back.

Now that Rachel and I are no longer roommates, about once every week or two (or longer) you'll hear this from somewhere in my apartment

"Oh! My damn plant!"

(Sorry, mom, for using "the d word" in the above paragraph.)

This exclamation will occur when 1. I notice my plant and 2. I remember that I have not watered it for one or two weeks (or longer). I really have no idea how this plant has managed to stay alive under my care. I definitely have my mothers genes. I know nothing about plants, not even what kind this one is other than "vine". And if you want to get technical, I think my vine plant is actually two plants. Perhaps vines originated from the desert and don't need much care? What would I know - I really know nothing about plants. All I know is this looks pretty good:

the view from my window

2010-02-15T18:00:00.000-05:00

I'm stealing the title of the Time Traveler's Wife's blog for this post. (Hey - you get a pseudonym now! I hope you like it...) For the last bit of forever, it's been snowing here in Columbus. Rather than talk about it, I'll just show you...

From my bedroom...

(so you can see I'm not exaggerating the size of the icicles some how.)

From my roommate's bedroom...

From the back porch....

From the living room window...

I curse the groundhog that brought this upon us!

one of those people

2010-01-26T15:50:00.000-05:00

I've been awfully busy lately.

First of all I have a full time job, and they seem to want me there 40 hours a week every week.

And then I'm in school right now. (Quick update if you didn't know: I want to go back to school for a degree in bioinformatics, but I need a much stronger chemistry background than I currently have.) That takes longer than I remember in my undergrad. I mean, I have to go to class twice a week after work. Plus, I have to study and do homework.

And then around those things, I have to try to work in things like exercising and going to church and doing my laundry and cleaning the house. (Okay, as Scartlet will probably not tell you because she's too nice but what she thinks is that I don't really clean the house all that much.)

So because of all these distractions I've really had a hard time fitting in my first true love in life, which as you know is being with people and sharing my love with them.

No, I kid. People can go hang as far as I care. My first true love is, of course, reading. But reading is easily to put aside when you have a chemistry lab write-up to finish and no clean underwear. So, how does one find time to read? Well, for me, I've had to resort to what I did when I was getting my undergrad. That is, I have to read while doing other things.

I mean, do you even realize how much time you waste in life that could be spent reading? Of course there is the standard reading-while-eating. But I've had to expand it to anything I can. I read before class starts and during our class breaks. I read while brushing my teeth and blow drying my hair. I read while waiting for the elevator and in the elevator. I've even taken to reading while walking to and from wherever I'm headed. Yes, even that.

(Aside: I was annoyed with myself today because I forgot to bring the book I'm reading with me to work to read at lunch, etc. But then I realized that I literally had ten library books in my car, so I just picked one of those to bring in. Problem solved.)

So, I guess until things slow down a bit (i.e. spring break) I guess this will be how I'll get in my reading. As to how I will work in being with my friends, well, I just have to say, keep it down - I'm trying to read here.

um.. yeah... i'm sure it's fine there... i'll be back for it....

2010-01-13T11:29:00.000-05:00

Today is Legolas's birthday. (Happy birthday, Legolas!) Since he is going out of town this weekend, the Werewolf and I took him out last weekend. We started out with a good dinner at Bravo! Then we went shopping.

Legolas love shopping. He is very fashionable and he's always trying to get the Werewolf and I to get new things. So we told him as part of our present to him, we would go shopping and buy something for ourselves. It was just what he wanted.

I'm not a really big shopper myself (hence Legolas's wish that I buy some new things) and after what felt like about fifteen hours, but was probably only about 45 minutes I was just tiredly following along with the other two. I'm not sure what store we were in, but the Werewolf and I were looking at something (I don't know what) and Legolas was in another part of the store. He called us over to look at something else and we started to walk over when this exchange took place.

Me: "Oh, hey, the Werewolf. You left your bag and coat here."

The Werewolf: "Oh. I was just going to leave them there for a second."

Me: "Aren't you worried that someone might steal them? Or that you'll accidently forget them?"

The Werewolf: "Yeah, you're probably right. I'll grab them."

He took his stuff, and we started to walk away when the Werewolf stopped and raised his eyebrows and gave me a look. And then he looked pointedly at my bag that I had forgot I set down next to a clothes rack and was about to leave behind. I sheepishly picked it up and headed off to see what Legolas was excited about.

I'd probably forget my head if it wasn't screwed on.

Happy birthday Legolas!
And Happy birthday Scout too!

frazzled part 2

2010-01-06T12:19:00.000-05:00

Last night my hands were dry (a common theme in winter) so I decided to put some lotion on. I keep my lotion in a closet at the top of the stairs. So, I took my ring off and put it on the little ledge above the stairs. When my hands were nice and moisturized, I looked for my ring to put it back on, but it was gone! I'm very talented at losing things, but this was even faster than usual as I hadn't moved from the spot I was in. I thought that I must have somehow knocked it off the ledge.

I looked on the stairs, but it wasn't there. I looked on the other side of the ledge. I looked in my bedroom, to see if it had somehow rolled in there. I looked in the living room to see if it had rolled down the stairs and bounced in there. I checked under the bookshelf that currently resides on the foot of the stairs. I couldn't find it anywhere! So I checked all the places again. And again. And finally I just had to give up and hope I would somehow choose the right when I went out, even without my ring reminding me. I hoped the ring would turn up somewhere eventually.

This morning I got up and went through all my morning rituals. I opened the lotion closet to get something out and right there on the shelf was my ring! I'm really not sure how I convinced myself so thoroughly that I put my ring on the ledge that I didn't even think to look in the closet. But at least I'll make correct choices again today. Just don't hold me responsible for my actions last night....

(I hope this will tide you over for now, KKBC and BAC. I'll try to keep up better in the future.)

umm... thank you?

2009-12-18T08:58:00.000-05:00

My sister Lizzy is a statistics professor at BYU. One of the perks of this position is that she can take classes at the university for free.

This semester she took a swimming class. I read this story on her blog today and I thought it was funny, so I'm posting it here for all my friends to read too. (The stipulation was that I have to plug her blog. Click here. Read Lizzy's blog.)

During role call, the teacher called her name.

Another student in the class heard her name and said, "Neeley? Are you related to a statistics professor Neeley?"

She said, "I am the statistics professor Neeley."

The student said, "Oh. I'm in your class..... You look different in your bathing suit."

Awkward.

unintentional prank calls

2009-12-16T09:10:00.001-05:00

When I was home helping out with the move last week (see previous post) my mom was trying to get a hold of my dad. Dad stayed behind at the new place and is notorious for being hard to get a hold of since he never has his cell phone on*. The new house is close by grandma's house and dad's two brothers' houses (and families) and mom and tried unsuccessfully to get a hold of him there.

So, mom told me to try the house again to see if dad was there now. I verified the phone number with her and dialled. This was the conversation that occurred:

Some woman answering the phone: Hello? (Note: I did not think it was surprising to hear a woman's voice since there are so many relatives close by that are hanging around at any given moment, and it would be just like dad to have someone else answer.)

Me (without thinking, see above parentetical statement): Have you found dad yet?

Some woman: Um, my father has been gone for 8 years.

Me thinking: Oh crap.
Me speaking: Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry, I must have the wrong number!

Some woman: Yeah, it sounds like it.

Awkwardness, followed by some kind of, "well, bye then" followed by a quick hang up.

Me: Mom! What the freak! You said that was the right number. [rattles back number I dialed]

Mom: Oh, no, that should have been a 4, not a 5. Let me try it.... (She was able to get a hold of dad.)

The bright side is that at least the woman hadn't lost her father 8 days ago. That would have been just plain mean. Lesson learned for me is that if I don't recognize a voice on the phone, don't just plow ahead and ask my question anyway.

Subject change: I saw this and I guess there is hope for me after all.

*Mom, dad and a couple siblings have a family cell phone plan and dad was in the shop one day helping someone get a new phone or something. The cell phone guy told dad that from now on he has to use his cell phone at least one minute a month because he's the primary name on the account. Dad had not been using his cell phone at least ONE MINUTE a month!

one man's trash.... is still trash sometimes

2009-12-14T08:23:00.000-05:00

My parents finished moving out of their old house this week - the house I grew up in. It was a little sad because we all love that house so much. There's nothing to really hold us to Fremont anymore, and I whenever I went up there, I usually didn't even go anywhere except maybe to Arby's, but it still will be a change for everyone.

(Aside: I like their new house, most especially because it has an upstairs. One of those weird quirks about me is that for some reason I don't really like sleeping on the ground floor (or basement). I guess I'm an elf and not a hobbit.)

To help my parents, Lizzy, Big Brother and I went home. Thursday, the movers came and packed everything up and hauled it away and we cleaned the whole house.

Part of the cleaning process was hauling a bunch of junk out to the curb for garbage collection. And I mean a bunch. And it was nice and cold - 15 degrees and windy - so it was the perfect day for that. My mom really wanted to give the garbage man a tip and she was paranoid that she'd miss him, so we took shifts watching out the window for the garbage truck.

We saw some interesting things while we were waiting. Before that day, I never realized how much attraction a huge pile of garbage can hold for some people. It was amazing how many people stopped and looked through it. And how much people actually took away. We had four grotty mattresses (two that had belonged to my grandparents when they were first married) and two rusty old bicycles that were hauled away. Not to mention countless other junk. Our across the street neighbor came over twice in his cammo pants to look through stuff. Once he had his whole head in a garbage bag looking through stuff. The thing is, some of the trash out there was really trash - food from the refrigerator, the used vacuum bag, broken things, etc. I just wonder if any of that got hauled away.

And of course, we all watched the goings on from our windows. Whoever was on watch would call the other siblings over and we would secretly cheer on the scavengers and encourage them to take things. I believe the movers thought we were crazy, but we enjoyed it.

I was able to snap a few pictures for your enjoyment as well. Sorry about the tree in the way. And a the window screen in a few of them.

i got the black lung pop. cough

2009-12-08T09:56:00.001-05:00

I have some good news or bad news for you, depending on how you feel about me. It turns out that I am mortal after all. Remember how much I make fun of some of you for getting sick all the time? It turns out karma is a cuss* and I finally got what was coming to me.

The timeline:
Sunday November 29: I had a bit of a tickle in my throat and I was really tired.
Monday: I woke up with a dreadful sore throat. I called into work sick. (Only the 2nd time in my life I've done that.) I went to the doctor and I didn't have strep, so I went home and tried to sleep it off.
Tuesday: I didn't have a fever, so I went to work even though my throat was still a bit sore and I was really tired. I left about an hour early and went home to take a nap.
Wednesday: I was feeling better and I went to work no problems.
Thursday: The coughing began.
Friday: I just couldn't stop coughing. I went to work, but I think everyone was a little annoyed by my constant coughing. At one point I was a little afraid I was going to throw up I was coughing so hard. So I went to the bathroom. By now there were tears streaming down my face from the coughing. There was a lady in the bathroom looking at me like I was insane - like I was a crazy girl coming into the bathroom to cry after a breakup or something. I left work early.
Saturday: I didn't sleep very well because of the cough. When I woke up, I my voice was gone. I had to turn down an invitation for a cold weather run with the Werewolf. (I actually do love cold weather running.) (Any running, really.) I had to give my symphony tickets away to Rocket Boy. I had to turn down an invitation from Guy Montag to a chili cook-off. I did still go to dinner for the Constant Gardener's send off (he's getting married on Friday), but it was hard because no one could hear me when I talked to them.
Sunday: Voice still mostly gone, but getting better. The Werewolf and Legolas took full advantage by trying to make me mad on purpose, knowing I couldn't retaliate.
Monday: After a better night's sleep, I'm feeling better. I went to work and I didn't have any coughing fits. On the drive home, I did (tears and all), but I made it home safely. Plus, I could talk again.
Today: Still a bit of a tickle in the back of my throat, but it seems like things have mostly worked themselves out.

I'm sorry to people who get sick like that every year. Or even more than once a year. It's an awful way to go through life. I'll try to be more sympathetic in the future.

ps. One of the funny things about losing my voice was seeing how many people would whisper to me when we were talking. It's okay friend - just because I can't talk doesn't mean you can't.

*Go see Fantastic Mr. Fox. You'll thank me later.

the joy of painting, with bob ross

2009-12-01T20:38:00.001-05:00

As you may or may not by aware, my parents are in the process of moving to Pittsburgh. They're retired now and don't have anything to hold them in our old home town. My dad's mother and two brothers (and families) live there, so it seemed like a good choice. (Thank heaven they aren't one of those couples who feels the need to retire to Utah.)

Well, they sold the house I grew up in. (Mom told me to pray and also told me to stop swearing so my prayers would be effective, but I didn't stop and the first people who looked at the house bought it. Hmmm....) They bought a new house about five minutes' drive from grandma and the uncles. So this weekend, the lot fell to my sister, Jane, and I to paint. (Luckily, we also had loads of help from various aunts, uncles and cousins.)

Mom wanted us to paint the ceiling. So we did. About five minutes into the job, I realized that I should probably tape a section of the ceiling that I didn't want to paint. Unfortunately, I forgot that I just painted an area of ceiling right by where I was taping and I accidentally ran my whole head across that area. Brilliant, I know. The result was this:

Yeah, Cruella DeVil if I ever saw it. The pictures don't really do justice to how much paint was in my hair. Everyone was joking all day long that I'd turned into an old lady. That night I washed my hair three times and then spent about half an hour just picking paint out of my hair. Then my mom spent about half an hour picking paint out of my hair. And today (five days later) I'm still finding little flecks of white in my hair that need picking out. Oh dear.

In other painting news, I just want to post this picture of my friend Josh. He always has the best Halloween costumes. I heart you, you bloody bastard, and I always will.

keeping my guardian angels busy

2009-11-23T13:31:00.001-05:00

Most of us think we're pretty good drivers. I know I'm not that great. As I was driving home from Cleveland the other day I realize that I've done lots of things that I probably shouldn't. For your reading pleasure, here's a list of things that I've done in the past (I definitely don't do any of these things any more, I swear) but only when I've been alone. I do try to be a little safer when I have others in the car, though only because I'm embarrassed to do these things in front of others probably.

- Call and text people. I think that almost everyone does this. Come on, I know you have, just admit it. (Aside: the other day I was texting Legolas while driving and I accidently told him, "I'll son you soon" instead of "I'll see you soon." You know 866 instead of 833. Awkward. Luckily he didn't take me up on it.)

- Eat. I think everyone has eaten in the car too. I've made fry sauce while driving.

- Change clothes. I bet a good percentage of people have done this while driving too. I've done this so many times. Occasionally I've changed from top to bottom, including putting on tights and changing my shirt.

- Sit cross legged. Just on long trips. I mostly stopped doing this when I realized I couldn't stop in a hurry if I needed to.

- I wear my sunglasses at night. I just wanted to see what it was like. And then I forgot I was wearing them and I kept them on for about half an hour.

- Don't defrost the wind shield. When I was in high school I sometimes didn't scrape at all. I'd just look out the little patch of visible glass at the very base of the wind shield until the whole thing was defrosted as I drove to school.

- Read. Did you doubt it?

- Take pictures and videos. Sometimes you just see the coolest things when driving. Or I'll record odometer milestones. I took a video in the snowstorm I was in while driving to Ohio so people would know how awful it was.

So, yeah, it's pretty much a miracle I'm still alive. It probably doesn't make you feel safer knowing that there's people like me out there on the road. Just smile for the camera!

don't worry, i've got your back

2009-11-19T09:11:00.001-05:00

My friend the Werewolf works in a research lab. He goes in a couple of nights a week to feed baby mice until they die and then he takes out their intestines for research. I know it sounds kind of gruesome, but the research team is trying to figure out ways to keep babies born prematurely alive. (According to the Werewolf, the number one killer of premature babies is intestinal tract infections.)

He tells me that he's often there alone at night and sometimes it gets a little eerie. Being the good friend that I am, I made him this helpful list.

Ways the Werewolf could die while in the lab:

- rat escapes and bites his face off

- someone mugs him while he's walking to his car

- genetically altered mice revolt
- bit by sick baby legolas* while feeding it
- contaminated by baby legolas blood after it dies
- peta activists invade
- racing downstairs so he's not late and trips
- stuck in the elevator
- poisonous snakes in the air vents
- bubonic plauge
- heart attack
- overheating
- computer/radio short causing electrocution
- equipment malfunction
- stabbed with needle
- raptor attack
- accidental cut with unsanitary dissecting instruments
- pass out from the fumes and hit his head
- stuck in the dead rat freezer
- vivarium fire
- something falls on him in the construction zone
- tarantula in a rat suit
- mutant shark attack
- poisonous spider bite
- rabies from mice
- building suddenly sinks into the earth
- natural disaster: tornado, earthquake, tsunami
- fire ant infestation
- contracts the swine flu from coworker
- boredom
- pass out from not eating
- security guard misunderstanding
- paper shredder accident
- zombies get in from the hospital
- zombie mice from the dead rat freezer
- lyme disease

- going blind from exploding rat guts
- did i mention raptor attack?

*I once asked the Werewolf if he named his baby mice and he said he didn't because it would be too sad when they died, plus he couldn't really tell them apart anyway. So I convinced him to call them all Legolas**. Sometime when I talk to him about work I just ask how the little Legolases are doing.

**Legolas's real name, not actually "Legolas".

i can't think of a title for this post

2009-11-12T20:25:00.003-05:00

According to the Brothers Bloom, the best con is one in which everyone involved thinks they get what they want. This post doesn't apply to cons, but it does apply to everyone getting what they want.

As you may or may not be aware, Scout was married last Saturday. My original plan for my apartment when Scout left was to turn her room into my library. As time went on, however, I became aware that I didn't really want to live alone. And one day, I was thinking about this and I thought, "I wonder if Scarlet would enjoy living here." About a month later, I was at a party with Scartlet (and others) and I just decided to ask her. She had been living at home, so I wasn't sure that she'd be enamoured with the idea, seeing as she'd be saving money by not living with me, but I figure what could be the harm in asking.

(Aside: this is how I usually recieve spiritual promtings. I have ideas that seem like good ideas and I act on them without thinking about them too much.)

Well, she was all for it. Even more than I expected. I guess she currently shares a room with her sister and she wanted some more space before she starts school back up in January. Plus, the added benefit of living with me. So she said yes in a New York minute.

The funny thing is, Scarlet thinks I'm doing her a favor. Last night she started moving some of her stuff in and she thanked me (again) for inviting her to live with me. But in reality, I think it's her that's doing me a favor. I get a roommate who is sweet and easy going. It will save me money and sanity. When I live alone I do crazy things like talk to myself out loud (more than usual). And I don't like looking out the blinds because what if there is an alien with poison gas leaking out its fingers waiting for me out there? And don't get me started on the basement. Who know what crazy stuff lives down there when I'm alone? And I do other crazy things like wear hats like this around the house all day.

And the first night that Scout was gone there was a ginormous spider just hanging in front of my door. Just hanging there! And I'm not kidding when I say it was ginormous. It was at least as big as my thumb. If I had a roommate at the time, I could have called her to let me in the back door (which is barred most of the time). But as it was, I was trapped. Luckily, Legolas was in the neighborhood, and I had him come rescue me, so I didn't have to sleep outside.

So you see, it's mutually beneficial. Scarlet thinks she's getting the better end of the deal, but I think I'm really lucking out here too. It's a win win win situation.

it's not you, it's me

2009-11-10T11:08:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago, I was talking to a guy at work about how much I love "30 Rock". (It is seriously funny - go check it out.) He told me that "Community" was better. Rather than fight it out, we both agreed to watch the other's show and talk about them.

Since that time, he has watched every single episode in all four seasons of "30 Rock". Me? I have watched zero episodes the eight total episodes currently out of "Community". It's not that I don't want to. I do. I like laughing and finding things to laugh at. I've even put "watch community" on my to-do list several days, but to no avail. It's just that I really honestly and truly forget to watch it every time I might have time to do so. When I have just a bit of spare time I almost never think, "I should watch some tv." I don't have cable - I just have rabbit ears - so why would I go sit in front of the tv for four stations? (Answer: I wouldn't.) And since I'm out of practice watching tv on my actual tv, I forget that I can watch tv online sans commercials.

I'm not one of those self-righteous people that thinks I'm awesome for not watching much tv or who looks down on you for watching. Sometimes I wish I watched more tv. There's some good shows out there. And I like knowing what other people are talking about. And it's fun to quote.

Most of the time I can't even tell you what else I'm doing. Reading for sure. And running. (Though now that it gets dark at 5:30, it's harder to run because I can't run safely outside and treadmill running makes me crazy. I really have to work myself up to go running on a treadmill.) (Aside: if anyone likes running outside at night in cold weather and will be my body guard, there is currently an opening.) And... hanging out with people? Who knows.

I think I'm just better at watching stuff if I'm with people. I feel like I'm being social even if we're just all sitting and watching the same thing together. (This is probably because I talk during shows, so I do feel like I'm being social.)

Mostly I feel badly because I feel like I'm not fulfilling my promises. I have several videos that I've borrowed from people that I haven't gotten around to watching yet. Plus my Netflix. And now "Community". But, it's on my to-do list, so I'm sure I'll get to it this week...

we heart drew

2009-11-06T09:54:00.000-05:00

My sister Elizabeth is doing a triathlon this weekend to benefit her friend Drew who has cancer. Should you feel so inclined, you can look him up on his blog and donate to his cause.

drew

Go Liz!

earrings and things

2009-11-01T20:04:00.000-05:00

The back story: For Halloween, I wore a track suit, loads of makeup, big "Utah" hair, high heels, bangles and huge hoop earrings. Then, a name tag that said "your mom". I'm not going to lie, it was pretty hot.

The story: The earrings I wore came with two other, smaller pairs. I decided to wear the smallest of the three to church.

At the beginning of Sunday School, before separating for classes, each organization makes announcements for what they have coming up. This week it was Legolas's turn to make the announcement for the activities committee. Before he got up, a member of my committee asked if she could say something about break the fast when I gave the announcement. I told her it was Legolas's turn, but that she still could. Well, when he stood up to give the announcement - he wasn't close to me (for once) - and I tried to get his attention so I could tell him that this girl needed to say something.

Mid-announcement, Legolas said, "Hold on, kristin is trying to say something to me, but I'm being distracted by her huge hoops." Half the ward turned around to look at me and I got many compliments throughout the day on my lovely earrings.

Later, Guy Montag came up to me and asked what the deal was with my big lips. I must have had a confused look on my face because he said, "You know, what Legolas was distracted by?" I told him Legolas said "hoops" not "lips". Guy said that I should make sure that's what people thought he said because it sure sounded like lips to him.

He was not the only one who misheard. On the drive home, Scout told me that another (male) member of the ward thought that Legolas said "boobs". (Of course, one look at me, and you know I've got nothing that could be considered distracting in that area.)

I guess the take away here is to be careful of the words you use when describing other people in front of the whole ward.

benjamin scott folds

2009-10-30T08:46:00.000-04:00

Wednesday night, Lady MacBeth and I headed to glorious downtown Columbus for a Ben Folds concert. It wasn't your typical Ben Folds concert. (Or so I'm told - I've never actually seen Ben live before.) It wasn't even on the tour dates list of his current tour. The difference was that instead of playing with a band, he played with the Columbus Symphony. They still played all his songs, but arranged for orchestra. Some of the songs were just lovely and the rest were freaking awesome. I don't know who could have come up with such a great idea, but I really liked it.

I think one of the reasons that I like Ben so much is that he actually studied music. He really can rock out on the piano. He knows the chord progressions and the modes and all that. And he's totally amazing at it. You've heard his songs on the radio, no doubt. But he is even better than that. And he loves performing, you can tell. He really caters to the crowd. After the program was finished, he dismissed the orchestra and just played a few of his songs on the piano by himself and it was still awesome.

(Side note: the opening "band" was an acapella group from Ohio University called the Leading Tones. I wonder what they resolve to! Ha ha! Get it? Anyone... no? ...chirp chirp....)

Point being, if you ever get the chance to see Ben Folds performing live, I highly recommend it. Especially with an orchestra.

the best medicine

2009-10-28T14:00:00.002-04:00

Last night I fell asleep with all my bedroom lights on (again). I woke myself up by laughing at something in my dream. Now that is a pleasant way to wake up.

And a post from my favorite cartoonist's blog: (since we're in marriage week, it seems.)

the secret of a long marriage

just when i thought i was in a safe place

2009-10-26T21:19:00.000-04:00

Remember my last post? Okay, fine, so maybe sometimes I bring it upon myself.

Last Saturday I went to the temple with Legolas. (Yes, Braden, I am temple worthy and I go. So there.) In the Columbus temple, you have to make appointments for everything you do. By the time we were making appointments, the only thing available was sealings. Well, I enjoy sealings, and temple work is temple work, right? Right. So we went.

I should have known better.

It started out when I ran into a woman from my home branch. We chatted for a bit and then I said I needed to get off to the sealing room. She raised her eyebrows in surprise and then gave me a knowing smile. I didn't know how to respond, so I just went my way.

When we were there, the sealer went around asking for last names. There were two couples besides Legolas and me. The sealer asked for Legolas's last name, and I could tell he was going to go on before asking me, so I just piped up with, "And my last name is Neeley."

"Oh!" he said, surprised. He consulted his list of names. "We do have a Sister Neeley on the list. I guess that's why you should never assume anything, right?" Right.

We had to wait a few minutes for someone to come in so one of the other couples asked us about ourselves. I said I was a native of Ohio. Legolas said he was originally from Utah, but he'd moved to Ohio for dental school.

"Oh!" said the sealer, knowingly. "I bet that's not the only reason you were supposed to come out here." He looked pointedly at me. I didn't know what to say. It didn't seem like the time or place to tell him that Legolas and I were just friends. (Sometimes boys and girls can just be friends. I know! It's true!) We just let it slide.

Another temple worker came into the room to help out. The sealer was telling him about the people in the room and then he said, looking at Legolas and me, "And we get to do some practice sealings today!" I turned my head and laughed. Still we didn't know what to say.

After the session was over, the sealer came to talk to Legolas and me. He must of noticed that we didn't hold hands and the general lack of googaly-ness on our part and perhaps he thought it was his fault. He apologized for saying we were doing practice sealings and hoped we weren't mad. Of course we weren't - we thought it was pretty funny. That eased his mind. But I'm sure he still went home to his wife and told her how wonderful it was that young people these days were going on dates to the sealing room of the temple.

We were able to leave the temple without further incident.

on spinsterhood

2009-10-23T07:39:00.001-04:00

I'm sorry if this sounds more bitter than I intend.

First, I'll start out with a test for you:
In many of my posts on here, I mention my friend, Legolas. I've known him for about two years. We hang out quite a bit and I consider him to be one of my dearest friends. I would say I usually see him at least five days a week, and sometimes oftener. Recently, as you know, I was called to be the co-chair of the activities committee in my ward, with Legolas as the other co-chair. Last week I found out that Legolas is now my home teacher as well.

If you thought to yourself after reading the above paragraph something along the lines of "she is sure thrown in with Legolas a lot; she is probably going to hook up with him" you failed the test.

To be fair, if you thought that it is most likely because you don't see Legolas and I together a whole lot. If you are from Columbus you probably thought something more along the lines of "Heavenly Father sure is trying to teach kristin patience". I do love Legolas; I do. He just knows me well enough to know how to really make me angry. And he makes me angry on purpose because he thinks it's funny. A marriage to him would be short, and one of us would inevitably end up in prison for murder. (Most likely me as I'm more cunning than him.) (And, he feels the same way, lest you think I'm breaking his heart.)

I've noticed a trend. It seems like married people are the worst offenders when it comes to saying awkward things to me. It's like there's something in the "marrieds only" drinking fountains that makes them forget how it was being single. Married people think that because they got married, they are wise and must help us poor singles who are not wise. There are a few notable exceptions, of course. Mrs. Weasley, Anne of Green Gables and Scout must have taken the vaccine because they seem to remember being single and don't say some of the awful things that other people seem to think are okay. Can I just run through a quick list of things that people really have said to me and why they annoy me? Consider it a public service announcement to my married friends. Are you wondering why your single friends no longer want to talk to you? This could be why.

First off, general statements that I get all the time.
- "You just need to get out there more." Sometimes I think people don't understand that I really do actually want to get married. Yes, I spend my time doing things like travelling and being happy instead of working on my hope chest, but I would honstely and truly love this blessing in my life. I'm not actively avoiding men. I go to church, to FHE, to institute, to parties, to ward activites, etc. And I even talk to people while I'm there. I'm not sure what else you want me to do. (Though, I'm sure you've got some great ideas you could share with me.) I do skip Sunday School sometimes. Maybe that's my problem.
- "You're just being too picky." Girls who don't go out every weekend don't feel picky; we feel ugly. And I don't want to just be married - I also want to be happy. My dad always says he'd rather I was single and happy than married and unhappy. If I'd wanted to just be married, I think I could be. Perhaps I'm being cocky, but occasionally men are actually interested in me. But why would I marry someone forever if I know we couldn't be happy together? I realize that everyone has problems in their marriage, but sometimes I know I just couldn't respect someone in that way. That's not being picky - it's being realistic.
- "So, do you have your eye on anyone?" I never answer this question in the affirmative, even if I do. The asker will always want details and then they will always ask you about the young man in questions for the rest of your life along with helpful advice like, "you should invite him over for dinner." Brilliant! No wonder I'm still single - I'm too dumb to think of things like that!
- "Don't worry - you're still young." I hate this. Not only is it condescending, but to quote from one of my favorite books, The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery - "Oh, I know. Yes, I'm 'still young' - but that's so different from young." It's like saying, "We haven't quite given up on you yet, but would you hurry up? You don't have much time here!"

And now, non-general statements; things that people have actually said.
- "Are you going to try to get married, or are you going to be an old maid like your sisters?" This statement was made in front of one of my unmarried sisters. Thank you Mr. Tact. I'm pretty sure I told him I was going to be an old maid.
- "You know you're breaking your mother's heart, right?" Now I have the have responsibility for my mom's heartache as well as my own. If only I knew how sad my singleness was making my mother, I would have tired harder. I guess I'm just heartless. Maybe if you have a kitten, I can kick it.
- "If you aren't dating any boys in your ward, maybe you should date a non-member and convert him." This was my grandma's advice. I guess she's given up on me marrying in the church. I don't think she realizes that most people these days expect to have sex before they get married, but other than that, it is a fool proof plan.
- "What if you have been fighting it for so long that one of your little Legolases doesn't get to be born anymore?" This was said to me by one of my friends who thinks I'm just being stubborn about not wanting to date Legolas. I kind of felt like she'd punched me in the stomach. Trust me, I'm acutely aware of my biological clock and it really does worry me that maybe I won't be able to have all the children I'd like.

Again - I'm sorry it sounds like I'm just a bitter old maid. (Maybe I am.) I just think sometimes people don't realize how they sound when they say these things. I feel like when people just want to know about my singleness, that they're condensing my whole life into the one fact that I'm still not married. When you look at it that way, maybe I am a failure. But I've done so many other things in my life, too. It's not like being single is a disease that needs to be fixed. And, yes, I'm sure there are loads of things I could be doing better in my life that would make me more attractive to the opposite sex. But please don't define me by my social status. Deal? Deal.

Whew! Now that I've gotten that off my chest, can I just say, have you seen how good looking Legolas is in his new shirt? I wonder if he'd like to come over for dinner this weekend... I mean, It's not like I'm getting any younger....

ode to the librarian

2009-10-21T23:21:00.002-04:00

One of the most fun things about being in Utah last weekend was seeing my friend, the Librarian, in the flesh. We talk to each other a great deal, but it's always lovely to see your friends in person. (Well, usually it's fun to see your friends in person. But it is always fun to see the Librarian in person.) I think the reason we get along so well is that we are basically the same person - funny, readers, just a little bit inappropriate. (Plus she's a total hottie.) When we're together we just make fun of things the whole time. When we were in the same ward we had to not sit next to each other in sacrament meeting. Because you already know I'm going to be saying inappropriate things and it just makes it worse to have a ready and willing listener and replier.

One of the ways that the Librarian differs from me is in the giving of gifts. She is way better at it than I am. She is just so amazingly creative.

Last summer I recieved this as a prize:

Yeah, it's a gong. No, I'm not telling you what I won it for.

Then for my birthday that year she got me this:

Because what pirate doesn't need a spyglass? I've definitely used it for spying. On ships.

And for Christmas last year:

It's a mug. I'm pretty sure it's made out of a real human skull.

And finally for my birthday this year:

I guess she's trying to make me understand white people better. (Plus she also gave me a book and a pirate pen. She is the only person brave enough to give me books any more. It really is dangerous because I do have an awful lot of books, but she still braves it.)

How does she come up with this stuff? The best I can do usually is a gift card to Barnes and Noble. I'm pretty sure that we'd still be friends even if she wasn't such a great present giver, but I'm pretty worldy, so maybe not. The point is... I hope I can enter another contest with her soon!

i'm in love with a fictional character

2009-10-19T11:47:00.001-04:00

Last week I watched "North and South" and I liked it, so I decided to read the book. I like to pretend that I'm not a silly girl, but I totally heart John Thorton now. With descriptions like these, how could I not?

He went slowly down the steps right into the middle of the crowd. 'Now kill me, if it is your brutal will. There is no woman to shield me here. You may beat me to death--you will never move me from what I have determined upon--not you!' He stood amongst them, with his arms folded, in precisely the same attitude as he had been in on the steps. (Chapter 22)

"But I know she does not care for me. I shall put myself at her feet--I must. If it were but one chance in a thousand--or a million--I should do it." - John Thorton (Chapter 23)

Mr. Thornton remained in the dining-room, trying to think of the business he had to do at the police-office, and in reality thinking of Margaret. Everything seemed dim and vague beyond--behind--besides the touch of her arms round his neck--the soft clinging which made the dark colour come and go in his cheek as he thought of it. (Chapter 23)

"One word more. You look as if you thought it tainted you to be loved by me. You cannot avoid it. Nay, I, if I would, cannot cleanse you from it. But I would not, if I could. I have never loved any woman before: my life has been too busy, my thoughts too much absorbed with other things. Now I love, and will love. But do not be afraid of too much expression on my part." - John Thorton (Chapter 24)

When Mr. Thornton had left the house that morning he was almost blinded by his baffled passion. He was as dizzy as if Margaret, instead of looking, and speaking, and moving like a tender graceful woman, had been a sturdy fish-wife, and given him a sound blow with her fists. He had positive bodily pain,--a violent headache, and a throbbing intermittent pulse. He could not bear the noise, the garish light, the continued rumble and movement of the street. He called himself a fool for suffering so; and yet he could not, at the moment, recollect the cause of his suffering, and whether it was adequate to the consequences it had produced. It would have been a relief to him, if he could have sat down and cried on a door-step by a little child, who was raging and storming, through his passionate tears, at some injury he had received. He said to himself, that he hated Margaret, but a wild, sharp sensation of love cleft his dull, thunderous feeling like lightning, even as he shaped the words expressive of hatred. His greatest comfort was in hugging his torment; and in feeling, as he had indeed said to her, that though she might despise him, contemn him, treat him with her proud sovereign indifference, he did not change one whit. She could not make him change. He loved her, and would love her; and defy her, and this miserable bodily pain. (Chapter 27)

He thought that he disliked seeing one who had mortified him so keenly; but he was mistaken. It was a stinging pleasure to be in the room with her, and feel her presence. (Chapter 29)

Okay, you get the idea. And of course, it doesn't hurt anything that the image my mind calls up when reading these passages is this:

*sigh*

weekend update with seth meyers

2009-10-12T00:49:00.001-04:00

(Okay, I lied, Seth Meyer wasn't really part of my weekend. But my weekend would have been a lot more funny if he had been there.)

I went to Utah this weekend. I know, I know, you're mad at me because I didn't see you. I'm sorry! I tried to keep it on the dl because I knew I wouldn't have time to see a lot of people. So, try to forgive me. I'll see you the next time I'm in town, I'm sure.

The main reason I went to Utah was for Kacey and Joe's wedding. (Every time you think "Kacey and Joe" do you think "K-C and Jojo"? Me too.) It was a lovely wedding. I ran into my friend Lisa's husband, randomly. He was waiting for another wedding party to come out of the temple. Sadly, Lisa wasn't there, but I guess you take what you can get. It was nice seeing old friends from the ward both at the wedding and at the reception. Especially Sleakbean and Anne of Green Gables (and Gilbert) since it was Anne's birthday and I just like those two.

The rest of the short weekend was spent with my sister Lizzy. We spent some time with the aunts and cousins and the lot, playing pinochle and having a grand old time. And I have a new show for you to watch, along the lines of "Jane Eyre" and "Sense and Sensibility" : "North and South". Lizzy really likes this one, and I enjoyed it too. (It's the BBC production based on the book by Elizabeth Glaskell, not the one about the Civil War.) Mr. Thorton was another angry, brooding, moody, dark hero and I found him delightful. Why do I like angry men so much? It's a mystery. (I hope my liking Mr. Thorton doesn't make me like Sir Guy of Gisborne from the new BBC Robin Hood that I've been enjoying, thanks to you, Melissa.) I need to read the book.

In other news - I got a new calling while I was away this weekend. It is probably one of my least favorite callings: activities committee co-chair. (True, I've never been the co-chair before, just on the committee, but I imagine co-chair is worse than just committee member.) I guess despite my hopes, no one voted against me and I'm due to start right away. *sigh* The funny thing is that Legolas is the other co-chair, as if I don't see him enough. But at least he's someone who I probably won't strangle. Probably.

And that was my weekend. Is it a good idea to stay up so late updating my blog? Probably not. But I'm not working tomorrow (well, I guess it's today now) because I work for a state agency and tomorrow is a state holiday (Columbus day) hence the office is closed. Hopefully I'll spend my day running and getting my hair back to red again. I know some of you said you liked it, but I really don't like the blond. And that's all I've got tonight. Cheers!

oooooooooh fffffffuuuuuuuuuuuuuuddddddddddggggee

2009-10-07T12:54:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, I decided to go outside for lunch to stretch my legs and get some fresh air. I was planning on stopping by my car briefly to grab something, so I had my keys with me. I didn't bring my purse because who wants to be lugging that around and it was perfectly safe at my desk. So I just had my keys hanging lightly out of my pocket - the one key in the pocket, the rest outside kind of thing. (I don't like having my pockets full of keys.)

As I was stepping out of the elevator, I felt my keys slip out of my pocket. I looked down for them, but I didn't see them, which confused me. I felt my pocket to see if I was wrong and they were still there. Then I saw the horrified look on the face of the woman still in the elevator.

"They went down that hole," she said in hushed tones, pointing to the gap between the elevator and the floor.

It took me a second to realize what she was saying. I saw the look on the faces of the people waiting for the elevator - they seemed shocked. It sunk in - my keys were not going to be found on the floor. I wasn't quite sure what the next step was, so I just stood there stupidly for a moment trying to think what to do.

"The security people can get them for you," said the lady in the elevator.

I decided this was my best chance in any case, so I got back into the elevator and took it to the ground floor. The lady in the elevator, deciding I was incompetent, strode up to the security desk and told them I'd lost my keys down the elevator shaft. I smiled and tried to look like I wasn't an idiot. The security guy said he could get my keys, no problem, and what did they look like? I told him, but then I was wondering why would he ask me such a question. Was he expecting a whole heap of keys down there and wanted to make sure he brought back the right ones? Did he think that I saw someone else drop their keys and if I got to security first, I'd get them? I don't know the answers. But he did bring me back the right set of keys, and sent me on my way.

At least I didn't drop them into a pool of lava because then, man, they'd be gone.

diet pineapple coke morning

2009-10-06T08:51:00.000-04:00

Last night I did something I haven't done in quite a while - I stayed up super late to finish a book. True, I only read four hours last night, but I didn't start until midnight. (Why did I start reading a book about six hours after I wanted to go to bed? It's a mystery. I'm not qualified to make good decisions after 10:00 pm.) I kept telling myself I would read just one more chapter; just one more. By the time it was three in the morning, I knew I was going to finish, so I stopped fighting it. When I did finish, I was wide awake wondering how I was going to get just a bit of sleep for work today when all of a sudden my alarm was going off and it was two hours later. I must have problems distinguishing between tired and not tired.

It was a good book and very engaging - The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - but nothing life changing by any means. (Spoiler alert: It did make my cry in the middle. I give Lady MacBeth a hard time for crying at movies, but nothing makes me cry like books do.) And now I'm left to sip caffeine all day and wait for the chance to take a nap.

2009-10-05T15:39:00.000-04:00

Don't forget about Kristin and Erin's online bookclub!

book club....

frazzled

2009-10-02T19:39:00.000-04:00

When I was a kid, we used to say our mom was "frazzled". It seemed like a much nicer word than "ditzy". Besides, she isn't blond and it seems only blonds can be truly ditzy.

Well, for the time being, I'm blond. And I can say I am truly ditzy sometimes. And I don't even have five children, so I can't claim anything other than myself for my shortcomings. And of course, I've got a few stories to illistrate my point.

Story 1:
My temple recommend expired in September. So I needed a new one because I like having a current temple recommend and also because I'm going to a wedding next weekend and usually they don't let you witness temple weddings without one. So, I made an appointment with the bishop on Tuesday and got a new one. While I was in his office, he had me get out my old recommend so he could copy down the membership information and what not. At the end of the interview, he gave me back my old recommend (I was going to use it again before it expired) and the new one so I could take it to my stake president interview. I put them both in my journal, so I wouldn't lose them.

Wednesday I had an appointment at the temple. I was going to leave and I thought - Oh yeah, my recommend is in my journal, I'd better go get it. But when I went to get it, it wasn't there! Panic! I checked again. And again. I checked my car in case it slipped out in there. I called Legolas because I'd gone to his house after the interview, but he couldn't find it either. I called the temple and told them I wasn't coming. I looked everywhere again. I went through every page of my journal. I went to the church to see if it has somehow fallen out and someone had found it, but I had no luck there either. The thing I couldn't understand is how both recommends were gone - how had both the new and the old one fallen out and gotten lost. It was distressing. I wasn't looking forward to calling the bishop and telling him I'd need another new recommend because I lost the first one within 24 hours of getting it.

Well, the next day - yesterday - I found it on accident. It was in my purse. How had I not thought to check my purse? I can only say in my head I somehow knew I put it in my journal and so my brain wouldn't even entertain ideas of looking in other places.

Story 2:
Yesterday I went with some friends to a Mike Birbliglia show. (The comedian, not the singer. That's Michael Buble.) It was down town. I work downtown, so naturally I knew where we were going. But when we got there, I was like - wait, that's the Ohio Theatre there, not the Capitol Theatre. I still thought I knew where we were going and I directed us to walk around the block, but that was the Palace Theatre. Now, I was throroghly confused. Luckily, Legolas knew what was going on and directed us aright. He got us to the Capitol Theatre, which just happens to be in the same building as my office. How did I miss that? I go to that building five days a week and I've seen the signs for the Capitol Theatre probably every day I've been there, yet something just didn't connect.

Side Note:
Today at work, I noticed three bottles of half empty (half full?) bottles of diet coke in the refrigerator and I'm about 80% sure they're all mine. Just not quite sure enough to throw them away.

happy birthday to me!

2009-10-01T07:39:00.000-04:00

The city of Columbus gave me the most wonderful birthday present today: finished construction on 315! It only took me ten minutes to drive into work today. Huzzah! No wonder they were over schedule - they were saving it as a present to me. Well, thanks, Columbus. It really was wonderful of you!

edo days and nippon nights

2009-10-01T05:13:00.000-04:00

I'm back! (You: hooray!) Japan was delightful. Here's a list of things I learned about Japan while I was there:

1. They drive on the left side of the road in Japan. Yet we still saw a few cars with the driver on the left instead of the right.
2. For some reason, there aren't very many trash cans around. How did they keep that place so clean with no trashcans?
3. It is very English friendly there. All the road signs and subway stops and everything are in English as well and Japanese. In addition, if you are white and looking lost, people will stop and ask if you need help.
4. There is no diet coke in Japan, only coke zero.
5. Traditional Japanese pillows are filled with beans or something, not feathers.
6. There are no beggars. This is the first trip I've ever been on where I haven't been panhandled. Tokyo is a big city and we saw a few people who looked homeless, yet not even one person asked me for money.
7. People don't make eye contact and smile at each other. It was my personal goal to get as many people to smile at me as possible.
8. They really do make the most delicious sushi you've ever dreamed of.
9. At every restaurant, they give you either a warm towel or a wet wipe to wash your hands before you eat.
10. They love love love McDonalds over there.
11. The bullet trains are smooth enough that you can write in your journal with your left hand and still have it be neat.
12. They love ticket machines and having things automated. We stayed one night at the temple and we had to buy a ticket from a machine outside the office. At one restaurant we ate at, we bought tickets for the food we wanted before going in.
13. Despite what people told us, Japan was no more expensive than the United States. It was pretty much the same.
14. Whenever you buy anything at a souvineer shop, they wrap it up in nice paper. You could go straight from a souvineer shop to a birthday party if you already had a card.
15. It really is a lovely place to travel to, and if you get a chance, you should go.

(ps. thanks for the title of this post, Raskolnikov.)

Sayonara

2009-09-16T06:26:00.000-04:00

If you're wondering I won't be updating my blog for the next ten or so days, I just want to remind you it's because I'm in Japan.

Suckers.

mixed drinks

2009-09-14T21:55:00.004-04:00

A few weeks ago, I went to a friend's wedding where they served sparkling cider so we could all toast the happy couple. I usually like sparkling cider, but this stuff tasted to me like beer smells, so I didn't love it. Raskolnikov mixed his with diet coke, so I thought I'd try the same thing, but I still didn't like the concoction. I just ended up wasting precious diet coke.

I realized my flaw: I was trying to mix something I didn't like with something I did like in order to make it good. This plan doesn't work very often. If you mix mushrooms with soup, you get soup that is gross and tastes like mushrooms. If you mix Sunday School with a nintendo party, maybe it spices up the class a bit, but in the end they are still trying to teach you about paying your tithing.

Point being, I realized I should try mixing two things I like. Sure, it might not work, but it had a higher probability of succeeding than the first experiment. I tried two drinks that are both delightful in and of themselves: diet coke (of course) and pineapple juice. The result was even better than I thought it would be and is now my new favorite drink. In my mind, I think it must be what rum and coke is like to drinkers because I think that rum is kind of fruity, right? Maybe not, I don't know. What I do know is that diet pineapple coke isn't helping me in my "goal" to stop drinking so much pop, but it is helping me drink more fruit juice, which is good for you, right? I'm calling it sixes as we stand here.

jane eyre part two

2009-09-13T18:45:00.001-04:00

I read Jane Eyre this week and I liked it. I will probably add it to my "read these books every few years" list.

(And to my former roommate who I named Jane Eyre : I'm not sorry about that. Not that I think you're like her. Just that it's a good pseudonym. At least you're not Raskolnikov, right?)

jane eyre

2009-09-07T22:15:00.000-04:00

About two months ago, Mrs. Weasley recommended that I watch the new Masterpiece Theatre version of Jane Eyre. (At least, I hope that's the version she recommended, because it's the one I watched.) I'm honestly not much of a home movie watcher because it always seems like I'm doing other things, but I ordered it from NetFlix. (I don't even know why I have a NetFlix account since I hardly ever watch movies, but that's beside the point.) I got the movie probably three weeks ago, and finally today, since I had the day off and avoided contact with other people, I sat down and watched it. It was comprised of two dvds and lasted four hours.

I know this may come as a shock to many of you, as I do enjoy reading so much, but I've never actually read Jane Eyre before. I've never even seen another version of it, so I really had no idea what was coming. I found the beginning very odd indeed and was really unsure as to what was going on. But by the end I decided I liked it very much. Maybe even enough to read the book. Mr. Rochester was so dreamy. I might even like him more than Mr. Darcy. Maybe. He was just so brooding and delightful. I hope one day that I meet someone who will call me a witch my whole life. (And as Jane is very plain, but also very passionate, I think it would be a very apt comparison with me.)

yarrrrrrrrr!

2009-09-04T08:11:00.001-04:00

More Pearls Before Swine.

please don't shake me, no don't wake me, leave me where i am... i'm only sleeping....

2009-09-03T09:23:00.001-04:00

Anyone who has ever lived with me knows that I am not a night person. I get all crazy and sometimes crabby. The problem is that I think I still am qualified to speak and make decisions, when really I am not. (When living with Mrs. Weasely, she had a rule that said, "No life decisions after 10 pm." A good rule for me.) I say things I regret and my swearing increases exponentially with how late it gets.

One thing that I often do is trick myself into falling asleep. I am a very good sleeper, especially when I tell myself I'm not going to sleep for the night - I'm just going to take a little nap so I can be awake enough to get ready for bed in a few minutes. Monday night I didn't even think I was tired and I was wondering how I was going to fall asleep. I layed on my bed, waiting for my roommate to get out of the bathroom, and the next thing I knew it was 6:30 in the morning and I'd slept all night in jeans with my contacts in and all the lights in my bedroom on.

(Side note: sleeping all night with your contacts in makes an uncomfortable day the next day. Your contacts trap in all that enzyme whatever whatever stuff that makes eye goobers and so it turns your eyes extra gooey for the duration of the day.) (Unless you are smart enough to take out your contacts and wear your glasses instead.) (Which I'm not.)

Knowing that if I try to take a nap in my bed, nine times out of ten I'll end up sleeping all night, I sometimes try to take a nap on the floor, thinking it will be uncomfortable enough to wake me up after not too long. But usually what happens is my arm will fall asleep, which will wake me up, but I'm too far gone by that point and I will just fumble into my bed with the same results as if I'd started there.

Don't get me wrong - I'm definitely not complaining about this sleeping talent of mine. I'd rather be able to fall asleep under many diverse conditions than not to be able to fall asleep. I'm just telling you why I will sometimes tell you to go to h-e-double toothpicks if you're talking to me after 10pm.

bookclub

2009-09-01T08:04:00.000-04:00

Don't forget to check out kristin and erin's online bookclub for exciting new posts and discussions (kind of exciting anyway).

Maybe one of these days I'll get around to doing a real post here.

pirates and the news

2009-08-27T08:21:00.000-04:00

I kind of like that the only thing pirates know how to say is "Arrr".

More Pearls Before Swine.

pirates day 3

2009-08-26T09:21:00.000-04:00

More Pirates.....

Be sure to visit the Pearls Before Swine website.

pirate dry cleaners strike again

2009-08-25T11:52:00.000-04:00

I just love it so much.

Be sure to visit the Pearls Before Swine website.

i guess i won't get into the drycleaning business anytime soon

2009-08-24T10:35:00.002-04:00

From my favorite comic.....

For more check out the Pearls Before Swine website.

signs that you might be a competitive jerk

2009-08-18T09:34:00.004-04:00

Last night at FHE we were playing a game at the bishop's house where we were divided into three teams. Each team was trying to come up with as many temples as they could, but you only got points for temples that the other teams didn't come up with. When we were reading our temples, our team kept getting shot down. ("We've got that one!", "Nope, doesn't count - we have it.") Finally we got one that no one else had (Detroit) and before thinking I said, "Ha! Suck it!" The bishop laughed and said that perhaps that phrase shouldn't be used in a temple game. Well, we ended up coming in second anyway. But the evening wasn't a total wash because later I was able to join the golf ball on tee club. The bishop has a snow globe with a golf ball and a tee in it and the object is to get the golf ball on the tee. I think the only members of this club are me, the bishop and Moses. So yeah - suck that!

old friends and bookends

2009-08-17T11:08:00.006-04:00

I went to Washington DC this weekend for my cousin's wedding. It was nice. I haven't been to our nation's capital since I drove out with out there with Melissa about five or six years ago. I really don't know why I haven't been since moving to Ohio since it's only about a six and a half hour drive. Very easy day trip. Lady MacBeth and Legolas came with me so we could spend some time seeing the sites together when not at the wedding. Here are the highlights of the trip:

- Lady MacBeth and Legolas really are delightful people to travel with. They don't get crabby (like I do) and they are flexible with the itinerary. And it was nice seeing my family. We all went to dinner for my little sister Lydia's birthday after the temple.

- We met up with my old friend Andrew from BYU. The day before we left I remembered that he lives in DC now, so I sent him an email asking if he was free to meet up and he was. He hung out with us all day on Saturday and it was just delightful to see him and remember all the fun times we used to have.

- The wedding, of course, was lovely. I almost missed it due to traffic, but I got to the temple with about three minutes to spare. They took most of the pictures before the wedding (which no one told me... hmmmmm.....) so I got out of that part. But they took one picture after the ceremony with everyone. I convinced Lady MacBeth and Legolas to be in the picture. Everyone was kind of standing by families with the bride's side to the right and the groom's to the left. Except one little niece of the groom came over to our side and decided to hold Lydia's hand. And Legolas put his hand on Lydia's shoulder, so it will probably look like they are a couple with a cute little daughter in the wedding picture.

- We went to the Library of Congress. We weren't able to go into the part with all the books, just the part with the history and displays and stuff. I got a library card even though you're only supposed to get them if you're going to do research. But the next time I come back I will go and spend some time there.

- The Metro - I just love public transportation. I don't know why.

- I found the monuments to be quite beautiful. I wish that I could be that artistic. I guess that's why I don't design monuments. We saw the World War II, Korean War and Vietnam war memorials. Plus the Lincoln Monument. But not the Jefferson since I have a general dislike of him in deference to John Adams.

- I had one of the best hamburgers of my whole life at Ray's Hell Burgers. (It may have been called Ray's the Steaks, I'm not sure.) We also had some good chili at a place frequented by Barack (and by "frequented" I mean he's been there once). And we hiked about a hundred miles to a really good cupcake place. (I don't actually like cake very much, but I didn't want to spoil the party since Lady MacBeth and Legolas had been such good sports in going to all the places I'd wanted to go. But they were very good cupcakes for being made of cake.)

- This was my first time in the Air and Space Museum and I liked it. There was so much to see. It just went on and on and on. I could have spent all day there. (Note: I could have also spent all day at the Library of Congress, had they let me.)

- And finally, the magnet that Legolas bought me: (this might not be it exactly, but it's close)

clubbing

2009-08-12T10:38:00.003-04:00

I think it's fun to be in a lot of clubs. Plus it looks good on your college application. So pretty much everything I do is a club. The main clubs I'm involved in now are Piano Club, Japan Club and Running Club. But I've also recently participated in State Fair Club, Ward Temple Night Club, Watching Bridget Jones 2 (edited) with Legolas and Lady MacBeth Club, Reading Club, Beach Club, Biking Club, Sushi Club, Playing Games with Old People Club (and winning $1.75 playing poker with them!) and Line Dancing Club.

(aside: I don't really think I'm a "cool" person, but nothing makes you feel like you're doing okay than not being good at line dancing. I mean, how do people get that good? I feel like I've made much better use of the last five years of my life.)

I suppose I'm also a member of Job Club, but that's mostly out of necessity. And I usually try to get out of Sunday School Club, though I really am honestly doing better. (I stayed the whole time this last Sunday and even paid attention! And answered a question!)

This weekend I'm having Going to Washington DC club, which I'm very excited about. While I'm there I'm going to JoAnna's Wedding Club and then spending the rest of the time at Seeing the Sites Club. It should be a grand old time.

I recently learned that blogs are more interesting with pictures. So in an effort to make my blog more interesting, here you go:

i'm coming home, ireland

2009-08-10T09:11:00.004-04:00

Two weekends ago, I went to the Irish Festival in Dublin, Ohio. My favorite part was the music. The Irish just have wonderful music. Everywhere you go in the festival there is music playing - traditional bands, pipe bands, Irish rock bands, even just folks sitting down and playing sets (which, really, is what Irish music is all about).

This post isn't really about the Irish Fest, though, as I don't really have much more to say about it other than it was lovely. But, being around so many things Irish reminded me of my last name, which is Irish. Or at least, the first Neeley that I'm related to who came from Europe came from Ireland. And thinking about Neeleys reminded me about a story that I heard once about Neeleys. And here it is....

The early Neeleys were a seafaring people and very adventurous. They were out exploring new waters and a new island was discovered. Well, there was quite an uproar - everyone around wanted to settle this new island. So it was decided that they'd have a contest - there would be a race to the new island and whoever touched it first got to claim it. The race starts, and Neeley fell behind, but was still pretty close to the leader. When it becomes apparent that he isn't going to reach the island before the other guy, he cuts off his hand and throws it to the island, thereby touching the island first and winning claim to settling it.

I was told this story by an old coworker who also had Neeley ancestors. I asked my grandma if she'd ever heard the story before and she said no. But what does she know? She's not really a Neeley anyway, she's a Hollrock (pure Prussian if ever there was one).

I, for one, believe the story is true because it showcases a lot of classic Neeley traits: competitive, bold, stubborn, high tolerance to pain, not thinking ahead (like - maybe I'll need a hand for the rest of my life?), cheating if it makes you win (or, looking for the loopholes), etc. I definitely believe I could have descended from someone like that.

it's that time again

2009-08-07T08:06:00.003-04:00

Time to stop finning.

that's the second most exciting video game related news i've ever heard

2009-08-04T10:31:00.005-04:00

Last night I decided to download Dr. Mario onto my Wii. Legolas has an old nintendo with that game and sometimes we play - Legolas, Lady MacBeth, Lord Goring and me. I tend to get beaten by everyone and being the competitive person I am, I don't like it. So, I got the game so I can practice. It probably won't work because I usually don't think to play video games when I'm bored, but at the very least, now we have the game at my house so Legolas doesn't have to haul it over if we want to play.

Anyway, while I was poking around WiiWare, I noticed that a game called "The Tales of Monkey Island" was also for sale. If you're like me (and who isn't?) you probably played a Monkey Island game or two growing up. We played a lot of computer games as kids, which is how I learned to be so good at solving puzzles and also looking up hints online.

At first I thought it was just the original Monkey Island released to play on the Wii because it was recently released for play on the iPod touch. But then I put my amazing internet skills to use and I discovered it is actually a new Monkey Island game. How did I not know this? It came out last month, for crying out loud! It seems like a pretty neat thing, actually (for nerds like me) - the game is separated into five chapters and one chapter comes out each month from July to November. So, I downloaded the first chapter, despite my claim in the first paragraph of this entry that I don't play video games much. In the half hour that I played last night it seemed pretty true to the originals. I don't really care about that as much as other people might, but the original ones were pretty funny, so I hope this one will be the same.

In case you haven't ever played these games (and if so, where have you been?) the main character is a pirate. So the game appeals to both my nerd side and my pirate side. What could be better?

Ps. It's available for PC too. Monkey Island

excuse me, what did you just say?

2009-07-30T13:19:00.004-04:00

Many of you know that my roommate recently got engaged. (Congratulations, Scout!) Consequently, she will be moving out soon. How soon? Sometime before Christmas, will you please stop asking her?

Last night, I was talking to Legolas and he said if he could somehow get his roommate to get married, why then we could move in together! (He was joking, naturally, since we're both Mormon and that's frowned upon.)

Lest you worry about my mortal soul by me moving in with a boy when we are both still single, I will tell you it would never work out and here's why. The next thing he said was, "Of course, I own my place, so you'd probably have to move in here. It's a bit smaller, so we'd probably have to box up your books and put them into storage." And the thing is he wasn't joking!

I just stared at him a moment, my jaw moving up and down as I tried to come up with something to say to that. I mean - who ever heard of such a thing? Boxing up books to save room. It doesn't even make sense to my brain.

I write about books about every other post here, so I know you know how I feel about books. And I know some of you feel the same way too, but some of you don't. I guess it's the same with anything. I don't understand how people can be passionate about camping and hunting. Or being a Republican. Or watching The Gilmore Girls. People love all these things and it makes no sense to me. So, I guess sometimes people don't understand why I love books so much.

Point being - I couldn't even pretend to want to move in with Legolas if he has no room for my books in his house. Instead, I will stay in my own place and turn Scout's room into the library. Now there's a win-win situation.

for the record, i would just like to point out that you are wrong

2009-07-22T08:08:00.002-04:00

I think it was in an Agatha Christie book where I first read of this idea: you can go years without thinking or hearing about a particular idea, and then suddenly you will hear about the idea twice in the course of a week.

Well, three times since last Friday I have heard people call Twilight the new Harry Potter. Pffffffft, I say! Pfffffffffft! This is the most ridiculous notion I've ever heard.

First off, I would like to point out that I am authorized to comment on this notion because I have read each series. (Okay, I didn't read the last book in the Twilight series, but Lady MacBeth did, and I'm taking her word for it that it was awful.) (And technically I only skimmed 2 and 3 because I'd promised I'd read them, but really I read the synopsis on Wikipediea and then just bolted through them.) Also, I started reading both series before all the hype. So, I didn't jump in expecting them to be either good or bad. In fact, I had expected Twilight to be good by how much the book was recommended to me. I started out thinking it was an intriguing idea. It was only when I was about half way through I remember thinking - wait, where's the plot in this book? And once I'd finished I thought - wait, the villain didn't show up until the last chapter; did anyone else notice this book has no plot?

Harry Potter was different. I can specifically remember the third book coming out a few weeks before my birthday. I knew I was going to get the book for my birthday, but I still wanted to read it. I can still see myself reading the first few chapters in the bookstore, hoping I wouldn't get kicked out. And then I remember just reading all day through on my birthday. I still remember the shock I felt when I realized that Lupin had betrayed Harry by letting Sirus Black into Hogwarts. Lupin, we trusted you! Point being here - I fell in love with the series before everyone was saying how good it was; before the midnight release parties and all that.

So, why isn't Twilight the next Harry Potter? Well, first off, to call anything "the next" of something else kind of belittles the work of both parties. Both authors put in quite a lot of work. And second, despite Stephanie Meyer's hard work, Twilight really just isn't good. It doesn't have believable characters, it has hardly any plot, and the writing is just awful. I'm not saying Harry Potter is going up for any major awards in literature, but at least it manages to stay interesting. The characters are interesting, it actually has a plot, and you can tell that someone has edited it.

Now, I can actually see the draw that Twilight has for women. Bella thinks she is not very pretty and yet this amazingly attractive man (vampire) is in love with her. What woman doesn't feel ugly some of the time? And what woman doesn't want some god of a man fawning all over her for no other reason than she is what she is? I think one of the reasons this annoyed me so much in the books is that we are absolutely beat to death with this topic. It's pretty much the only thing the books are about - Edward is goreous and Bella loves him. There's nothing about personality or anything substantial. The vampire bit is just thrown in there to try to persuade us that it's actually a fantasy book and not a cheap romance novel.

Harry Potter, on the other hand, is way more believable. Yes, even with the elements of wizardry. The characters grow and progress. They make mistakes. There is a real antagonist who causes real harm, and yet every book has a distinct plot. They aren't just fighting Voldemort each time. The characters are human and flawed and relatable. And yet, there is humor in the books too - they don't take themselves too seriously. I wouldn't even say that Harry Potter is my favorite series of all time, just that it's loads better than Twilight.

Basically, it comes down to this: Harry Potter is about dealing with life and growing and adapting and also fighting real evil and doing the right thing. Twilight is about being unconditionally devoted to someone just because he's hot and wanting to have sex with him.

Harry Potter and Twilight are not even in the same category of books. They are just compared because they were both very popular. (Though, being popular is not the same as being good.)

And how do Edward and Harry feel about each other? (Sorry if you've already seen this.) (And it has PG-13 language, just FYI.)

Edward vs. Harry

a modest proposal

2009-07-16T15:45:00.002-04:00

I have come up with a new Plan. Have you ever noticed how men my age seem to like younger girls, in terms of dating. Young, pretty girls. When men find out how old I am (almost 24!) they just see a haggard old maid. I'm not saying that's right or wrong. I mean, I was 19 once and I blew my chances! I know people say that 30 is the new 20, but I'm tired of waiting around.

So I've decided to become a second wife. I think it's a good plan. I can marry someone who's already "been there, done that" and can show me the ropes of marriage. Plus, I'm aiming for someone in their 30s, so hopefully he's already established in a career and hopefully debt free. There could be a couple of kids around, but since he has either been grieving the loss of his dead wife or has felt bitter about his divorce, I bet the youngest one would be at least three. (So the plan is Raskolnikov approved - no babies.) (Since I'm always trying to follow Raskolnikov approved plans.) I think I'd be a good step-mom. I will be firm, but kind.

A few of you marrieds have already graciously offered your husbands upon your demise, which I think is very kind of you. If anyone else knows of any thirty-something widowers, be sure to point them in my direction.

nerd alert!

2009-07-13T11:30:00.001-04:00

I'm a nerd; I know it. I guess it comes with the territory. It's hard to be a computer programmer by profession and not have geeky tendencies. I would say I'm not the worst nerd because I'm definitely not the best at what I do, but I am good enough to get by. And to enjoy things like xkcd and thedailywtf because I usually understand them.

Part of being a nerd is that I like numbers and calculations. In Columbus, one of the main highways through the city, 315, is currently under construction. Of course, this is the road I take to get to and from work. Contrary to being a problem, however, it has actually made my commute home much smoother. While the four mile stretch of road has a very strictly enforced 45 MPH zone, the traffic is always much less. So even though I'm driving slower, I am driving at a consistent speed with no slow downs or stops like my commute would be without the construction. I was wondering if the construction actually sped up my commute home. With various assumptions and calculations that I won't bore you with here, I discovered that with my margin of error, it is probably about the same travel time with or without the construction. And I actually feel like I come out on top with the construction because there is no congestion, so it feels like I'm getting home faster. Point being - I like the numbers proving that I'm not getting home any slower.

Other nerdy things this week:
- practical jokes nerds play : the it crowd (i love this show!)
- At work today, my boss told us that we don't have to support Internet Explorer for the project we're working on, just Firefox. One of my coworkers asked if we could stop supporting Windows and just support Linux. (Trust me, it's funny.)
- Another funny quote (to me) from the it crowd is when the lady tells the two nerds at a dinner party that they're all going to not to just talk about boring things all night like memory and RAM and one of them says, "RAM is memory!"
- I'm not sure if you've noticed, but I always edit the HTML of my posts so that links will pop up in a new window instead of taking over the current page. (Except for the link in my last post, because I wanted it to take over the page.) Today I changed the color of my links too, just because I can. (Though, that's not really super nerdy because anyone can do that.)
- Yesterday I got super excited talking to a guy in my ward who is also a computer nerd. He built his own router! It's nice to have someone to talk to who 1. understands what I'm talking about and 2. doesn't mock me for it, like most of my friends. (I'm looking directly at you, Legolas.)

a place of love and beauty

2009-07-10T08:33:00.002-04:00

I know I'm not one to mention serious or spiritual things on this blog much. I'm probably not a very serious and spiritual person. So, I'll keep this brief.

Last night I went to the temple with a couple of friends. Kind of an impromptu ward temple night with just about as many people from our ward who would usually come. And it was just nice. I don't know what made this session so good, but I felt like I really learned a lot about myself and my relationship with my Heavenly Father. There's just something about the temple that seems to help me take of my rough edges (which are many) and remember who I am.

So, that's all. Go to the temple.

books and dad

2009-07-08T08:49:00.006-04:00

I love reading and I love books. I think this is a well established fact about me. Well, my parents are in the process of trying to get rid of some of their stuff. I told them I would take any books off their hands that they didn't want. (The books are part of my inheritance from the padres anyway.) A few days ago, I was with my dad and without any warning he asked me, "Why do you want those books?!" The question surprised me as well as his tone. He asked me the question with something nearing contempt. It was the same tone that he might have asked me, "Why did you steal my identity?" or "Why did you sleep with my best friend, thus ruining his chances of becoming a minister?" It almost made me feel like I'd done something wrong by wanting those books.

Luckily, I know my dad pretty well and I know he didn't really mean it like that. Lots of times he just doesn't realize how things come out. He probably thought that we'd talked about me taking books before and that I didn't give a satisfactory answer, so he needed to ask again. (This happens with dad a lot - he thinks he talked to you about something, but really he was just thinking about it. He's not spacey; he's an engineer. I really do think that is an adequate explanation.)

The answer I gave him was something about how books are expensive and I liked having a lot of books because when I have kids I want them to have ready access to books and to know that reading is important. (Bringing theoretical grandchildren into the argument is a sure win with dad. How can he let these little guys down? He just loves them too much.) He thought about that for a second and seemed to accept it. Then he asked, in a milder tone, "But you don't want those old text books for anything do you? Those things are worthless." (Aha! The crux of the matter!) I didn't even realize old text books were up for grabs and to make him happy I said I didn't want them. (Of course I probably would take them; it might be interesting.)

Dad continued, "Okay.... well, at least now I have some idea of what to keep and what to chuck." I thought the only thing we established was it was okay to not keep old textbooks. That's not a very big category of books, but again - whatever. Then I realized that he'd used the word "chuck" to describe what he was going to do to books. This kind of makes my blood run cold. I said, "But, you don't really mean, 'throw away' right? You'll at least give them to Goodwill, right?" He replied, "Who wants old textbooks?"

Man, sounds like dad is hiding something. What's in those old books - Sectumsempra? I'll have to check them out before they get chucked.

(ps. Don't forget to check out kristin and erin's online bookclub. The new book for July has been selected.)

one short day in the emerald city

2009-07-01T23:41:00.002-04:00

I am in Provo, Utah today. I flew in last night and I'm leaving tomorrow. I'm driving back to the Ohio with my little sister, Lydia. (She asked me to come so she wouldn't have to drive by herself.) So, the questions is - what does one do in Provo for one day?

Well, in my case, a lot of the day was spent in Salt Lake. I went to lunch with a friend. Then I headed off to my favorite little bookshop, The King's English, to meet up with the Librarian. Of all the things I miss in Utah (other than people) The King's English is what I miss the most. After the Librarian had to return to work, I lingered for a while, browsing books and missing having a really good bookshop to go to.

Next, I stopped at the BYU bookstore to get one of my favorite things in the whole world: chocolate covered cinnamon bears. Mmmmmm! I also got a new CTR ring. I lost my old one in the Caribbean Sea when I forgot to take it off while snorkeling in Belize. I know it's kind of lame, but I got one that was exactly the same as the one I lost. I suppose I just like things to be the same.

The rest of the day has just been spent helping Lydia pack stuff up. In the evening, Lydia, Lizzy and I went to dinner at P.F. Chang's. (Lizzy is my older sister who teaches statistics at BYU and the owner of the "Provo Motel" where I am staying last night and tonight. The Provo Motel does not have a very comfortable couch. But, hey - it's free.) Lizzy had a $50 gift certificate to the restaurant, so even with lettuce wraps and desserts, we only spent a total of $3. (We left a big tip.)

And that was my one day in Utah. The thing that kind of surprised me is how familiar everything was as I drove around. I mean, I've only been living out of Utah for a year and a half, but I've been out of Provo for five years and still everything seemed so ... the same .... to me. (Well, I was surprised at how big the mountains are here. I guess I'd forgotten that.)

The rest of this week won't be quite as fun as we are driving across the country. But I've made this drive so many times it hardly seems like a challenge anymore. Plus, I'm going to a Cubs game on Saturday. At least I'll have that to look forward to.

book club reminder

2009-06-29T09:12:00.002-04:00

Don't forget about our online bookclub. Discussion has already started for this month's book.

kristin and erin's online bookclub

one more thing...

2009-06-25T08:37:00.004-04:00

One more thing about the Nauvoo trip. I forgot to say that Lady MacBeth saved my life. It seems very ungrateful of me to have not mentioned this.

We had stopped at an exit for dinner and we were waiting around for the [insert appropriate adjective here] people who decided to go to Denny's on our 45 minute stop. We were standing near the bus on a curb by some grass and other plants. We were, no doubt, discussing what we would like to do to those Denny's goers who were holding us up.

Suddenly, Lady MacBeth's eyes got really big and she said, "A bug just crawled down your jacket. Take it off! Take it off!"

I was wearing a hoodie and before I put it on, I took my other shirt off, so I was just wearing a shade undershirt underneath it and really didn't want to take off my hoodie. So I panicked.

"I can't!" I exclaimed.

In a flash, Lady MacBeth, at great peril to her own life, reached into the folds of the hood and pulled out the bug and threw it on the ground. In the process, she scraped her ankle on the curb to the extent that it started bleeding. That is a true friend.

if we ever meet again it will be zion to me!

2009-06-22T08:47:00.002-04:00

This last weekend, our singles ward took a trip to Nauvoo. We rode a bus all night long on Thursday and came back Saturday.

highlights
- I was pretty much the only one who slept on the bus on Thursday due to my amazing ability to sleep anywhere.
- Of course all the sites we saw were pretty neat. I've been to Nauvoo before, but it's still a good experience. I think my favourite thing I saw this time was the memorial to all the folks who died before making it out west and seeing some of my own relatives.
- I actually really enjoyed the corny show that we went to in the evening - "Sunset on the Mississippi" (which we did not watch outside due to recent rain - we saw it in the visitor's center). It was fun to see the little old missionary couples shuffling around singing. (I kind of hope my padres get called to Nauvoo on their next mission because I would love seeing dad having to sing and dance.)
- The night we stayed in Nauvoo, we stayed in a very nice place. They were called vacation condos or something like that. Loads of room for everyone, and not sketchy like some motels can be. I slept on a couch, and it was awfully comfortable.
- On Saturday morning, I was suckered into getting up at 5 to go running, but it was a really good run, so I'm glad I went. I honestly wish it was safe for a woman to run by herself at 5 in the morning because it is a wonderful time to run.
- Doing a session at that temple was great. I went to the open house years ago and it was neat to see it again.
- On Friday night I randomly ran into my aunt Krsten and cousin Samantha who were walking around the temple at the same time I was. This was especially fortuitous because I was having a competition with Lord Goring and David Copperfield to see who would run into the most people we knew and we were all tied up at 1. So running into Krsten and Sam made me the clear winner. (Plus, Krsten had her two nephews with her, which I also counted just in case even though I really didn't know them. Though, it turned out that I didn't need them.)

lowlights
- I think I must have fallen asleep with my glasses on on Friday night because I found them on the couch that I slept on the next day a little bent out of shape.
- By the end of the trip, we were all pretty tired and I think it was No Good for everyone to see how truly awful and mean I am when I'm tired.

In other news... Happy Father's Day! I went home to see dad. We watched that classic Father's Day film "Taken", which dad really likes. Mum gave me the treasures she bought for me while the padres were in Europe, which included a very lovely amber necklace, bringing my necklace collection up to 2.

signs you're starting to get worried about your next birthday

2009-06-18T09:33:00.002-04:00

Today I gave money to a panhandler outside my building because she called me "Miss" instead of "Ma'am".

disturbing development

2009-06-15T08:55:00.002-04:00

For the last few months I have been living with a false sense of security. In my last apartment, we had all sorts of insects running around. Mostly basement monsters, but the occasional spider too. I thought I was safe in our new place. But, my peace of mind was short lived. I should have realized that we moved into this place in colder weather and that most insects were hibernating or in insect revolt planning meetings or whatever bugs to in the winter. But now that the weather is warming up, I have had a very troubling experience: a few days ago I saw a spider in my kitchen.

Those of you who have lived with me know how much I hate and fear spiders. I have so many spider stories. I used to bribe my brother with candy to kill spiders for me. (The later at night and the more he had been asleep, the more candy I had to give.) Luckily, he is a nice brother and never tried to put bugs in my bed or anything. Mrs. Weasley (back when she was just the Future Mrs. Weasley) probably killed about a million spiders in our apartment, with me squeamishly cringing in the corner. Once Nat the Rat convinced me to let her use one of my computer science books to smoosh a spider in the bathtub, but when she picked up the book, the spider was still alive! I screamed like nothing else.

(Aside: for me, spiders are kind of like watching scary movies. I get all tense and I don't really want to know what's going to happen next, but I can't look away. And if something unexpected happens, I scream.)

And then there was the time Jane Eyre courageously fought the battle of the spiders with me. I don't remember why I went into my bathroom after Jane was asleep - maybe it was the middle of the night or maybe I just went to bed after her - but when I went in there, there were about a billion little red spiders in the sink. It was disgusting. I think they'd just hatched or something. I knew I couldn't handle this alone, so I woke Jane up and she helped me kill them. Yes, I even did some of the killing myself - I had to.

It was Jane Eyre that came up with my preferred method of killing spiders which is to spray them with whatever cleaning supply is handy until the spider curls up and dies. It's brilliant really. The only problem is that you still have to dispose of the spider carcass, which creeps me out almost as much as a live spider.

Anyway, back to the story at hand. The other day I was getting breakfast in the kitchen and I saw a spider. It was a lighter colour and it was above the cupboard above the sink. Well, being that high up, I naturally couldn't reach it. And being above the sink, I couldn't get to the cleaning supplies that were under the sink. (Obviously, that would have been throwing myself into harm's way, as the spider would have probably jumped onto my head, given the chance.) I'm always up earlier than my roommate, Scout, and she wouldn't have been much good anyway, being nearly as afraid of spiders as I am. So, I decided to just kind of keep an eye on the spider and when it moved away from the sink, I'd grab some windex or something.

I watched the spider as I poured myself some cereal. I had to look away for a second to pour the milk. When I looked again - the spider was gone! And I mean completely gone! It wasn't on any of the walls or anything. There was only one logical conclusion: it had apparated.

As terrifying as spiders are, wizard spiders are even worse. What if the spider apparates onto my face while I'm sleeping? What if it apparates into the shower? And there's no way to kill it, because it will just apparate away when I'm about to spray it with chemicals.

It is a truly terrifying situation I have gotten myself into.

easy breezy japanesey

2009-06-09T08:54:00.003-04:00

List of temples that I have done work in:

Columbus
Washington D.C.
Chicago
Salt Lake
Jordan River
Provo
Manti
Timpanogas
Manhattan
Vernal
Oakland
San Antonio*
Orlando*
Nauvoo**

And soon to be added to the list......Tokyo! Japan! More details to follow.

* Okay, I've just witnessed weddings here.
** This one is being added next week.

my stupid mouth

2009-06-08T09:17:00.002-04:00

I know I say a lot of things that I shouldn't. I get into loads of trouble because of my mouth. I think it was Mrs. Weasley that said my mouth was hard-wired - things just pop out without having the chance to pass through my brain for review. And I will say it's true - quite often my mouth filter has shut off.

I'm not really going anywhere with this post. It's just on my mind after saying quite a few things that really should have gone unsaid yesterday.

And despite what most of you may think, especially those who know me well, I really am working on it. It really does bother me that I make people fell bad or uncomfortable because of the things I say. If anyone is aware of my flaws, trust me, it is me.

Point being - I'm sorry for all the stupid things that pop out of my mouth. I hope we can still be friends.

jackpot!

2009-06-03T08:46:00.002-04:00

You know how when you're used to something being one way, you never even think about another possibility?

Well, at my past two workplaces (the Department of Taxation and the Department of Job and Family Services) I would keep change in my desk drawer for vending machine purposes. (Usually for pop, even though I "gave it up". But sometimes for when I forget my lunch or for dark chocolate.) About every other month or so, I would take a $20 bill to the change machine and get twenty $1 coins and put them in my cache. This method is easier than trying to scrounge around for change when needed.

Yesterday, I wanted a diet coke so I headed down to the break room. I figured I might as well get some change while I was there. Imagine my chagrin when I put my $20 bill into the change machine and instead of getting change in dollar coins (I think you know where I'm going with this) I got it in quarters. Quarters! As impractical and annoying as it is to have twenty coins rolling around in your pocket from the break room to your cubicle, it is much worse to have 100 coins. (Specifically, it is four times worse.) Okay - really it was only 95 coins since I did get that diet coke.

And of course there were other people in the room, so I had to act all nonchalant and pretend that this is exactly what I had wanted to happen. Yeah I wanted a boat load of quarters. Maybe I'm doing laundry later. Or perhaps I'm on my way to Indiana to try my luck at the slot machines. Just back off, okay?

Then when I got back to my desk I couldn't get the cap off the bottle. I tried for seriously five minutes. I had to give up and ask my neighbour to open it for me. That was pretty humiliating too. (Also, why is my spell checker set to British English instead of American English? So it recognizes "neighbour" but not "neighbor." It's a mystery.)

I think the universe is combining against me to have me truly give up drinking pop. But if that was the case, why would the universe make pop so good? I will leave that question as an exercise to the reader to figure out. I will be over here sipping pop and calculating the driving time to Wendover from here.

i'm lazy

2009-05-29T09:51:00.004-04:00

It used to be that I didn't much care for blogging. I'd always forget to read people's blogs and then those people would get shirty with me because I didn't know something going on in their life that was on their blog. In times past, I would think, "You are being ridiculous. We are friends. If you want me to know something about you, just tell me. Don't expect me to have read something you have posted for the whole world."

Lately, however, my views have changed. I realized that blogs allow me to further indulge my laziness. I mean, these days I can buy books and shoes, rent movies, get directions, renew library items and even order pizza all on the Internet. Now with the great number of blogs popping up all over the place, I can know what is going on with all my friends without the disadvantage of having to talk to anyone. It's a win-win situation! True, sometimes I do enjoy talking to people (if it's not oh the phone), but more often than not I get caught up in my daily life and I just don't end up keeping up like I could.

Plus, people blog about what they think about and I find this really interesting. I learn a lot about people from their blogs. I like learning things that don't necessarily come up in normal conversation. Sure, we get the normal things like how you are the same as every other parent/grandparent/aunt/uncle on the planet and think the kid related to you is the cutest/smartest/best ever. Or how much your job sucks (or not having a job). Or your vacation adventures. I expect those. I write them myself. It's the unexpected things that I really enjoy. Like all the 80s shows you love. Or the time you found a strawberry in your peach yogurt. Or how your neighbors smoke and it leaks in through your shower.

That's why I am always telling you to update your blog, even when you think you have nothing to say. Come on - you've got to have some random thought passing through your head. Stop being a pansy and write something! I mean, look at this blog - I don't think it's all that amazing, and yet you continue to read it. Of course, maybe you are like Scout and you just read certain people's blogs to remind yourself how dumb they are and to find things to make fun of. And that's okay with me too.

i'm older than i think i am

2009-05-27T09:25:00.002-04:00

You know how people who are older than us are always saying things like "Wow, I must be getting old?" And remember how you always laughed at them into your sleeve because you know they really are old? Well, I guess I've decided I must be getting old too. You may not believe me because I look like I'm about 22. Coraline told me that she thinks all Mormons are deceitful in that most of us look younger than we really are, but I don't think that is true. I know plenty of Mormons who definitely look their age (or older).

Anyway, my "I must be getting old" story is as follows. Last weekend I went to Cleveland with Legolas. We were listening to music from my iPod, and I could tell that Legolas wasn't really into it. We do have different music tastes. I was playing mostly rock that was pretty new and that he didn't recognize. I told him I would play something he would for sure know and I put on "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" by R.E.M. I thought everyone knew that song. I thought it was a classic. But Legolas didn't know it! He said it sounded kind of familar, but it wasn't something he really remembered. I was completely shocked. So then a few days later, I asked the Librarian if she knew the song and she didn't either. She said she might recognize it if she heard it, but she didn't know it off hand.

And, well, I am a few years older than both Legolas and the Librarian, and "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" did come out when I was in Jr. High. So, I guess I really am getting old. So, will you kids turn your music down? And for pete's sake - get off my lawn!

how about it science?

2009-05-20T08:16:00.001-04:00

This week at my new job as I was en route to the restroom, I was passing by the conference room and I noticed a ladder leading up to a missing panel. There were no people around. If you were me, you would have thought it would have been funny to move the ladder - perhaps a few panels down so that when the maintenance person came back from whatever ceiling related maintaining he (let's assume it was a he) was performing, he would look down the hole and discover his ladder missing. He would then see it a little ways away from him, or perhaps he would see a note stating the location of the ladder, and he would then have to crawl along the inside of the ceiling opening and closing panels, trying to figure out how he could get down from there, while you were sniggering inconspicuously in the corner. But then you would remember that you were the new employee in town and perhaps it was still a bit soon for practical jokes.

I proceeded to the little girls' room, only to find it closed, presumably by the same maintenance man who was wandering around in the ceiling. Why he couldn't go in another way - say, through the door - I don't know. Perhaps he was embarrassed by the prospect of having to go into the women's room when he was a man and so he opted to go in through the ceiling Mission Impossible style. I know nothing about maintenance, which is why I am just a lowly computer programmer.

Later in the day I found out the reason for the closure: an automatic hand dryer was being installed. It is one of those atomic ones that sounds like a jet engine and dries your hands in about three seconds. It's pretty cool.

I was thinking about this hand dryer and I realized something. Our bathrooms have automatic flush toilets, automatic facets and automatic soap dispensers. Even the door to the bathroom has one of those handicap buttons that I could conceivably hit with my knee or elbow. And now automatic hand dryers. The only thing left that I actually have to do myself is the locking and unlocking of the stall door. I'm not particularly germ-phobic, but I am kind of lazy so I was wondering if we couldn't make this an automatic process too somehow. Of course, I can see the potential problem of the door automatically opening on you while you were still doing your business. But, I think we have some pretty amazing technology out there right now, surely we should be able to overcome this problem.

Necessity, as you know, is the mother of inventions, so what I really need to find right now is an engineer with an extreme aversion to public restrooms, because all this manual opening and closing of stall doors is exhausting!

online bookclub

2009-05-18T18:33:00.002-04:00

My friend The Other Erin (the one who isn't my roommate) and I started an online bookclub. Please feel free to join us.

kristin-and-erin-bookclub.blogspot.com

home sick and job update

2009-05-17T17:17:00.003-04:00

I came home from church after sacrament meeting today because I was feeling ill. It was kind of annoying because 1. I never get sick, so what's going on? and 2. I don't feel good. I probably would have toughed it out except it's a rather severe sore throat and I was worried about getting other people sick. I'm not sure what I'll do if I still feel this way tomorrow, because I would really rather not call in sick.

But on the other hand, being sick has gotten me out of hanging out with people today, which I really didn't feel like doing. (I know what you're thinking - maybe I don't feel like hanging out with people because I feel sick, to which I tell you to shut up.) Also, it gave me time to do things I've been putting off like cleaning my room doing my laundry and opening my bills. And updating my blog. (But I wasn't really putting that off.)

So, I'm sure you've all been waiting with baited breath for an update on my new job. (SURE you have, but you have to read about it anyway. Or just stop reading. One of the two.)

Monday I started my new job at the Department of Legistative Information Systems (or LIS for short). And you know what - so far I really like it. I work downtown on the 22nd floor of an office tower and it's really neat. I've never worked downtown anywhere before. I like walking around at lunch. I like riding the elevator up to the 22nd floor and looking out the windows at the city. (I don't have a window in my cubicle, but there are windows available to me.) It's a way smaller office than the one I just came from. There are maybe 20 to 25 people in the whole department and 3 people on the project I myself am working on. My old project had 120 people on it and probably a thousand in the department or more. So the dynamics are very different. It's usually pretty quiet during the day - there's not people constantly walking around everywhere. And everyone knows each other pretty well, of course, so there's often friendly banter going around. Plus, I'm not allowed to work overtime. Do you have any idea how exciting that is to me? (Answer: very exciting.) My old job had manditory overtime and I hated it. I felt like I was always at work. At this place I'm in at 7:30 and out by 4 or 4:30. Plus, they have no problem with people leaving before 4 if you come in earlier. I love it. I guess the only complaint I have about this place really is that almost everyone is white. (You know how I feel about whilte people.) But so far they have been very nice to me, so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.

yes, yes i would

2009-05-14T22:27:00.002-04:00

I was doing research online today at work. (Really doing research, not "research online".) I was looking up some stuff on AJAX, which is a pretty neat technology. (I can't really call it "new" since it's been around for five or so years.) Anyway, a lot of technology websites, especially if they are not Microsoft or Oracle or IBM or big companies like that, sell ads so they can offer advice and tips for free. Usually I don't pay much attention to the ads because they are for technology books or software packages - things like that. As I was reading up on this stuff, I saw something out of the corner of my eye. I looked again and it was an ad for a free copy of the Book of Mormon. I have never seen that before. It was neat. It was ligit too - I clicked the ad and it took me to the official church web site for requesting copies of the Book of Mormon. I thought about requesting one, but I actually already have a few. (Actually, I felt kind of bad that the ad was wasted on me. ) And, well, that's the end of the story. Then I found $20.

happy mothers day

2009-05-10T20:50:00.002-04:00

I went to Pittsburgh for Mothers' Day because my grandma lives there and because that's where my own mother was going to be. There were quite a few other relatives running around. I like being with this family because 1. they are fun and 2. they make me glad I don't have kids yet. Seriously - my cousins are crazy! (The ones still at home are ranging in ages from 10 to 17.) (And there are 6 of them.) I really don't know how my aunt does it. I would have killed at least one of them long ago. But it's fun being with them because I can rile them up and then go home. (Which is what I did.)

a short and merry life

it's a small (mormon) world after all

it's been one week (or so) since you looked at me

shiver shiver

wait.... what?

i can ride my bike with no handle bars, no handle bars, no handle bars....

thanks

run fatgirl run

happy easter!

gospel truths

elevator etiquette

fire and ice

resolute!

welcome to neeleyville*

the breaking of the fellowship....

encounters at the grocery store

the return

team edward 4 life!!

number 8 on the list of things not to do at a cemetery

sometimes it's not better to be safe than sorry

and the last shall be first

where's that terrible towel when i need it?

life and the minneapolis airport

i swear, baby, he means nothing to me

there's traps and there's traps

broken promises don't upset me; i just think - why did they believe me?

count your many blessings

the waiting is the hardest part

frazzled part 2

nerds in bed

the real problem with twilight OR this post can save your life

i think i've discovered part of the problem....

inverse proportions

floracide

the view from my window

one of *those* people

um.. yeah... i'm sure it's fine there... i'll be back for it....

frazzled part 2

umm... thank you?

unintentional prank calls

one man's trash.... is still trash sometimes

i got the black lung pop. *cough*

the joy of painting, with bob ross

keeping my guardian angels busy

don't worry, i've got your back

i can't think of a title for this post

it's not you, it's me

we heart drew

earrings and things

benjamin scott folds

the best medicine

just when i thought i was in a safe place

on spinsterhood

ode to the librarian

i'm in love with a fictional character

weekend update with seth meyers

oooooooooh fffffffuuuuuuuuuuuuuuddddddddddggggee

diet pineapple coke morning

frazzled

happy birthday to me!

edo days and nippon nights

Sayonara

mixed drinks

jane eyre part two

jane eyre

yarrrrrrrrr!

please don't shake me, no don't wake me, leave me where i am... i'm only sleeping....

bookclub

pirates and the news

pirates day 3

pirate dry cleaners strike again

i guess i won't get into the drycleaning business anytime soon

signs that you might be a competitive jerk

old friends and bookends

clubbing

i'm coming home, ireland

it's that time again

that's the second most exciting video game related news i've ever heard

excuse me, what did you just say?

for the record, i would just like to point out that you are wrong

one of those people

i got the black lung pop. cough