End of the month...

It's so bizzare to think that January of 2007 is over. Didn't we just ring in this new year? These last two weeks have been crazy busy full of school, appointments, special classes, and missionary prep business. To make sure I'm getting all my stuff done I have made agenda/itineraries for each day. It certainly is OCD but it's getting the job done. It's been such a busy time I'm way behind on spending quality time with my TiVo...sad.
I think today is devoloping into a much more me-day than I'd intended...I'm getting a haircut and only going to one class today - and only spending an hour doing research for the Dean's office. Yee-haw! AWSHUM!!

A crazy awsome dream...

This morning I had a dream about going to a restaurant with a couple of friends. In my dream I was at a really lovely restaurant but couldn't find the rest of my party. I did see that some guy from high school was working there - which would only be funny to people I went to high school with - and then I discovered the bar upstairs. The bar had a special arrangement with Ikea. You paid a flat rate for the meal - and you sat on beds from Ikea - and each "booth" was decorated with Ikea awesomeness...and when you were done - you took the whole setup home with you!! The furniture stayed - but then all the accessories and decorating items were yours. But I realized it really was a dream when the flat rate was $35.00. Sweet Dreams!!

Quiet in the library

First I want to say that I fully support the quiet in the library policy - always have. But where did it come from? Was it the monks who were too chatty when writing out the texts and so a vow of silence reaches across time so that librarians spend their time "keeping it down" all over the library? Seriously. And who doesn't understand (when there are signs everywhere) that a quiet floor means we should only hear the pages turning and notes being taken and to turn off the freaking cell phone - and for the love of all that is holy - don't answer it and talk!!! It's like lighting up under a no smoking sign...seriously.I like being quiet in the library. Because then it means I can get all huffy and sideways glancey when dumb girls answer their phones on the quiet floor. It's hard to read Therese Raquin when you'd be happy to murder the frat boy on his phone behind you. Art imitates life, yes? YES.

What a great night!

(no this isn't us!)
Dinner with the fam - and then hot tubbing in the snow!! How better to relax after a snow day than in the hot tub? There is no better way. I did have to run in the house, losing a shoe in the snow...and THAT friends was cold.

Oh...and they've cancelled school tomorrow, too! YEAH!

Snowed in...

Hip-hip-hooray! We are snowed in here in Portland. Schools are closed, roads are treacherous, and I'm in my bed (heated mattress pad ON) reading and watching TV.

The first week of school was so busy and action packed, that I'm really glad the three-day-weekend turned into a four-day-weekend!! Classes are good and my assistantships are fun so far. Last week I started two new jobs and some new classes, went to a fun game night, saw a not-so-great production of The Heidi Chronicles, gave a talk in church and tried to use Maori sticks in Primary. But now we're into a low key week that will be short and sweet.

Back in class!

Yesterday I went back to actually sitting in classes. I am getting so much more done now that there is so much more to be done. It's amazing how busy people get so much more done in the day. I'm a writing assistant for a class that I took last year. I'm also a research assistant, hunting down really old alumni for the College of Fine and Performing Arts. It's a pretty great gig - except for my boss. I'll call her the Fish.
The Fish is only about 4 months old in her fundraising job with the college. And she is so not technically savvy AT ALL. But because she's a schmalzy fundraiser, she makes it sound like she invented Google, all by her lonesome. And the great part of this project is that so much of it is computer based. So, yeah. Every other person in the office is super nice and super helpful...but the Fish kind of makes me want to grab her ear and twist.

In totally other news, I started my aquatic aerobics classes last night. This morning, my shallow water class has left my upper arms just sore enough to remember how bad they hurt at the time. That Keith (this morning's instructor) is quite a motivator, since I would never work that hard on my own...for reals
School is real good. I had forgotten how much I love routine and schedules. And that I'm a mess.

Jury Duty

This morning I reported to the Washington County Courthouse for my first ever jury duty. While I was a little bugged, it was a very exciting process, mostly. I arrived a little after 8:00a.m., which is when the courthouse opens. And they have the most rinky dink security operation going on there. I stood out in the 34 degree morning for 25 minutes waiting for my turn through the metal detector. That was not awesome.

But once past the Wonder Team Security Force I was down to join the rest of the jury pool. I really was surprised that so many people were there, but it quickly clears out as the cases are being heard. I was called in the first group - for a harassment case. The judge was very explanatory and kind of funny. The tooly lawyers asked some questions, and one of the first six jurors was dismissed and then the jury was final. Which meant that I was excused to go back to the waiting room and, well, wait to be called to another case. After another hour, I was dismissed for the day!! I left the courthouse about 11:30 a.m.

I had taken plenty of books and my laptop to keep me busy while I waited - which was good because I got caught up on my e-mail and stuff. Some dopes hadn't even brought a book with them - but there were lots of puzzles in the juror waiting room, so whew!!

I really was disappointed to not be called to serve on a jury. You'd better know that I'm going to follow up on the case I almost served on!! Gavel, gavel!

For future reference...

I was just wondering about sweetmeats - and what they were. Here is what I've found.

The most traditional sweetmeats are Turkish Delight, taffy, toffee, tablet, and candies made with marzipan. Anything with sugar helping to preserve could technically be considered sweetmeats. A sweetmeat would not have chocolate.

So there you go.

Sweet Meats...

2006 was a roller coaster year. I am excited for 2007, knowing that it will bring much change and new adventures. I've really enjoyed ringing in the new year at the Malleys, one final vacation before jumping back into a full school and work routine. This year is going to be rockin'!