So look out for those beauties oh yeah

Dear Drivers,

In most states (and definitely the ones I have lived or currently live in, I've checked), bicyclists have every right to be on the road as you do. So, be nice and share the road. If you stay to the left, I'll stay to the right. Honking and yelling at us scares the crap out of us, so avoid that, unless you want to startle us and possibly cause an accident. And no, I will not ride on the sidewalk. It's even more uneven than the road, and ends in random places.

Watch out for us, and I'll watch out for you. And we'll all get home safely.

Love,
Me

With the exception of the people who've inspired this letter, I really enjoy riding my bike around. I don't do it as often as I should, but when I actually get out and get a little distance behind me, I love it. The wind in my face, the satisfaction of getting somewhere under my own power, and the endorphins are all just great. I also love knowing that the hard core bicyclists are training on the same streets I ride. It is quite hilly after all.

So biking? Two thumbs up from me. I got eight miles in today, and it felt fantastic.

I'll just unplug it for to-day

I hit a pretty big milestone at work today. Everything I personally needed to catalog before I build the library in the circulation software and, sort of simultaneously, physically reorganize the place is CATALOGED!!!!

Why, yes, I have been working on this project as much as possible for two years. The first day of actual cataloging was almost exactly two years ago. And it's done! Monday, I can open Unicorn Ecole and actually use it, instead of just looking at it and thinking "someday". I will also keep throwing things away. It's sort of nice that there just aren't enough trash cans around to do it in one day. I have a LOT to do around here still, but when an entire phase is complete, that's a reason to celebrate. Also, I'm happy that other librarians are excited for me and recognize my knowledge and professional status and willing to help me with various things, even when the non-librarians don't.

So, what to do to celebrate? Well, I think I'll go grocery shopping and hit up Bed Bath and Beyond (melted cheese on a plate + hot water = cheese melted into my dish scrubber sponge). Fun, non? Maybe I'll order a pizza. After the grocery shopping and before tonight's wedding reception. I took the groom on a date once, about a month before he started dating his now wife . . .

What I'll definitely do is share this week's SOTW - "Daylight" by Matt & Kim. It's already on the playlist, but the music video is worth enjoying, so click on song title. I'll be darned if you don't smile too.

No one here's getting pigeon holed

It's a bit of a running joke in the LDS Church that once in a music calling, always in a music calling. This has pretty much held true for me, with the exception of a few years here and there. My callings thus far:

12-13: Beehive Class President
14-15: Young Women's pianist
16-17: Laurel Class President
17: Stake Girls Camp Youth Leader Music Specialist
18: Sacrament Meeting Greeter (why we had an oboist as our choir director, I'll never know)
19-21: Ward Music Leader (and de facto everything else when necessary)
21-22: Ward Choir Director (was called as the ward music leader to replace the one who was moving out, but I ended up moving to DC before she left)
22-23: Relief Society pianist
23-24: FHE Group leader
24: Ward Emergency Preparedness co-chair

As you can see, more often than not, I've had a music calling. I've even volunteered to play or lead music in wards I'm only visiting in, which is why I've ended up playing in wards in North Carolina and even in London. It's always tempting in a new ward when filling out a new member sheet to not write down my music talents. Still, I always do, because they're going to find out sooner or later. In fact, my reputation preceded me this time around, because I'd met some of my new ward members during the Institute play and one of them made sure I met the ward choir director my first Sunday.

So, when the first counselor in the bishopric of my latest ward asked to meet with me, I had a feeling a music calling wasn't far behind. I was right, and soon accepted the calling of Special Music Coordinator. He mentioned that he knew how we musically talented people feel, since his wife is a violinist, that we're always in music callings, and that he didn't want me to feel pigeonholed. I assured him that, while it's true that I've had my fair share of them, I didn't feel pigeonholed, plus I'd recently had an 18 month break. It didn't hurt that I've been told more than once that the bishopric has been praying for someone to move in who would be perfect for that calling and they felt strongly that it should be me, once I'd arrived. How can you say no to that? I didn't, of course, and I'm really rather excited about it.

I've wondered why those who have Masters degrees in choral directing, people who could make real money doing it, volunteer their time to direct ward choirs. Or professional teachers teach Sunday School classes. Then I realize I'm doing the same thing. I have professional music training, and donate my time to the church. To me, to be pigeonholed is to be trapped, with no way out. And I don't feel that way about any calling I've ever had, and I've finally realized why.

Among other things, I have covenanted to live both the laws of sacrifice and consecration. Originally, the law of sacrifice was the faithful offering the first of the flock or crops, the best of what they had, to the Lord. "Because the great sacrifice of the Son of God ended sacrifice by the shedding of blood, today we live the law of sacrifice in other ways." (Elder Monte E. Brough) One of those ways is our obedience in doing what the Lord has asked us to do, including our service in the church.

As Elder Bruce R. McConkie said "Sacrifice and consecration are inseparably intertwined. The law of consecration is that we consecrate our time, our talents, and our money and property to the cause of the Church: such are to be available to the extent they are needed to further the Lord’s interests on earth." (Emphasis mine.) We also read in Exodus 32:29 "Consecrate yourselves to day to the Lord . . . that he may bestow upon you a ^cblessing this day."

So, when it comes to church callings, why not offer our best talents? I don't have what it takes to be a great Sunday School teacher, but others do. I don't know that I have the patience to teach Primary lessons to rowdy 6-year-olds. But I do have a knack for planning, organization, and music, so why not combine them into my current responsibility? Our exaltation depends on our obedience to our covenants, and while we aren't required to live the law of consecration to its fullest at this point, we are required to be willing to. I see no better way to show that willingness than to do what I do best, even if I could get paid elsewhere to do it. I'll always be happy to serve my Heavenly Father, even if I never have anything but a music calling again.

This is the summer of fair weather

I made a list last year of what signifies the start of summer to me. Now, I didn't go to Duck Beach, I haven't really done any star-gazing, and I've had a Sunday morning on the Mall instead a Sunday Night on the Mall, but it's still summer. In addition to the rest of that list, this summer includes bike rides, afternoons at the pool (yay friends with pools!), and the light at the end of the tunnel of both school and my major work project.

It's no secret I love summer. LOVE it. Favorite season by far. I love the warmth of the sun and the long days. I feel so energized and full of life. Winter - bleak and depressing. Spring and Fall - too unpredictable.

So that leaves summer, and I love it.

And, of course, the summer music. Thanks to my own music discoveries and a rather informal survey of friends, I've put together a rather perfect summer playlist, found on my sidebar. Almost every one of these songs inspires me to run and skip through a field, barefoot.

My favorite submission though, and this week's Song of the Week, is one from Captain Deviance, who heard it described as "folksy explosions in the sky." I couldn't add it to my playlist, but you can find it by clicking here.

Happy Summer everyone!

Did I miss any of your favorite summer songs? Sound off below!

If No One Ever Marries Me

Strange day yesterday. Some newscaster last night mentioned that for many of us, Michael Jackson provided a soundtrack for our lives. And, for me, it's true. At least in part. I had my first slow dance to a Michael Jackson song - You Are Not Alone in 1995, with Captain Deviance. And while his last few years were nothing short of strange, his talent will be missed.

And speaking of strange, I once again bring you Strange Things Found in the Library, the lyrics version.

The Computor
music by Robert M. Boberg
words by Jeanne Westerdale
1970

Once a small, little, bald, little scientist
Gave his computor a long, long list.
A list of problems fifty miles long.
And then he burst into this song.

CHORUS:
With the minimum persuasion it can solve a long equation
It can add an "X" to zero which will prophesy a hero.
By an intricate connection it determines an election,
It can launch a guided missile while you stand around and whistle.

First it started very slowly as he turned his back;
It added the numbers with a clickety clack.
Then it subtracted while he winked his eye,
And soon began to multiply!

CHORUS

Then it rattled and it blinked and it flip-flopped fast,
Gobbled up the questions that he had asked.
And then it choked on the hundredth thousandth question.
And groaned with numerical indigestion, indigestion!

CHORUS 2X

(fast) With the
(quite slow) With the
(very slow and detached) With the

tongue click with a drop of the head

Rock on, little computor.

This is my favorite though.

If No One Ever Marries Me
Poem by Laurence Alma Tadema
Music by Harry Simeone
1961

If no one ever marries me,
If no one ever marries me,
I'm a little old maid,
If no one ever marries me.

If no one ever marries me,
And I don't see why they should,
For Nurse says I'm not pretty,
And I'm seldom very good.
If no one ever marries me,
I shan't mind very much.
I'll buy a squirrel in a cage
And a little rabbit hutch.

If no one ever marries me,
If no one ever marries me,
I'm a little old maid,
If no one ever marries me.

I'll have a cottage near a wood,
And a pony all my own,
A little lamb quite clean and tame,
And a pussy cat mine alone.
And when I'm really getting old,
At twenty-eight or nine,
I'll buy a little orphan girl
And bring her up as mine.

If no one ever marries me,
If no one ever marries me,
I'm a little old maid,
If no one ever marries me.

Well, now I know what I have to look forward to!

Also, I finally joined Twitter - follow me!

Happiness is five different crayons

As I approached the table last night, filled with friends I know and friends yet to be made, one spoke up.

"Amanda, you look really happy."

"Thank you! I am!"

And I meant it.

Also, I have no more classes for my MLIS. Projects, yes, but classes? No. The end is nigh!

Yo, those were the days I will never forget

Maybe it's because I saw Up! on Saturday. Maybe it's because yesterday was Father's Day. Maybe it's because I just turned 25 and it somehow dawned on me that I won't be a mom until at least my late twenties. Maybe it's all of the above.

Either way, I've been reminiscing about my childhood and have come to the realization that my children may never get to experience certain joys I did. Two specifically have come to mind.

Jack's Pak-It - This was the little convenience store next door to my ballet studio in Beaumont, Texas. Living in our yellow house (where we lived from 1996-1998), it was within biking distance. During the summer, my siblings and I would hop on our bikes with a spare dollar or two and buy our favorite candy. They had a great selection and it was fun to stock up 10 cent candies, like 2 packs of Sixlets, three SweetTarts, and some 50 cent chocolate bar. Brotherface and I would take shifts shopping or watching the bikes, and Sisterpants (who would have only been 8-10 at the time) would stay in view of one us. We'd usually eat something there and then bike back home, finishing our candy over the course of the next day or so. I have no idea how often we'd go, but it was one of the few activities all three of us could agree on, and we still talk about it.

Nowadays, it's all chains, like 7-11, and it's not nearly the selection of child-priced candies. I only hope my children will have a place like that to go on their own and spend their hard-earned allowance/babysitting/chore money.

Renting movies - Now, as a Netflix user, I'm partly to blame for this, but video rental stores on the decline. Libraries have DVDs, but not all of them have a great selection (the last library branch I frequented did not). This is sad, because one of our favorite things to do as kids, accompanied by a parent, was to go the video store and rent a movie, after all our Friday chores were done. It wasn't always easy to decide, which probably drove our parents crazy, but almost always managed to do so. If I want to continue this occasional treat of a tradition for my kids, it's probably going to need some serious modification. And that's unfortunate.

Luckily, there are some things I loved as a kid that will still be around whenever I get around to having a family:

• Parent-child dates
• Biking
• Hiking
• Sing-alongs
• Father's interviews
• Lemonade stands
• Sporting events

Some days, I can't wait.

Little man, you've had a busy day

Last week, I got a phone call from my Administrative Assistant who, like everyone else in my actual department, works in a different city.

"There are some boxes coming your way, at least hopefully, that are for [Summer Program]. They should have your name and address, but are labeled with the wrong building name. Keep an eye out for them?"

Sure thing.

This morning, I email her, having received an envelope that seems to fit that description and she asks that I put it with the rest of the [Summer Program] things.

Shortly following:

Guy In The Building Whose Name I Should Probably Learn enters my office, with a few boxes that most certainly are part of the mystery boxes.

"Are these yours?"

"Sort of."

And we go out to the warehouse so I can show him where they go.

A short time later, GITBWNISPL returns.

"Um. Where did you want those again?"

We go back out to the warehouse and this time I help him put them away. You want something done right . . .

I realize I should go tell the other people from my department that are temporarily working in my building that the boxes have arrived and we don't have to worry about them. Then a New Person asks me to show him all the [Summer Program] pallets. And where we keep the coffee maker.

Done and done.

I breathe.

A Guy I Do Know But Who Is Also Not in My Department enters my office with a packing slip.

"There's a whole pallet of stuff out here. Is it yours?"

I stare blankly at the paper, looking for answers. Then, resign myself to entering the warehouse yet again to solve the mystery. Sure enough, the pallet is mine. I show him where to stash it and return to my office to make a [Summer Program] label. And back to the warehouse. And back to my office.

Admin. Asst. calls.

"Matt just emailed me and said there's stuff out there for us. Do you know Matt?"

"He might be GITBWNISPL . . ."

"I'll have him contact you."

Matt comes into my office. It's not GITBWNISPL. Relief.

"There's a whole pallet of stuff out here. Is it yours?"

"Is it what GIDKBWIANIMD showed me?"

"Yes."

Great.

Email to Admin. Asst.:

"I have [List of Stuff] here."

"Does it say what class it's for? I asked them to label it Amanda Stretch/[Class Name]. Did you put them by the other [Summer Program] boxes?"

Back out to the warehouse for the 85th time. I think I've been out there more today than the rest of the year.

"Yes. They say [Class Name]. But half the boxes have my name wrong. That's fun."

And then it was 2 PM.

I eat lunch.

So, if you ever wonder why my desk looks like this:



Or this:



It's because of days like today.

At least I have these little guys to keep me company.

I can watch a sunset on my own

When people find out I live alone, I usually get one of two reactions:

1 - Oh! That's awesome!

OR

2 - Really? Why?

You know what? Because I can, and I pretty much love it.

The truth is, I've never had a really, really great roommate situation. Either they've really, very much not liked me or I've been the odd one out (or there was the time that it was both and I felt very much ganged up on). Now, the former roommates that I know read this blog know this already, so this isn't news to anyone. (Hi the Spy and the General!)

A relationship with three people is always unstable. There will almost always be two that get along better than the three together. Sometimes it changes to be a different two, but there's usually someone on the outside, sometimes only barely, sometimes way out. I was always somewhere in between. I was still friends with the roommates who didn't loathe my existence, but not as good of friends as they were with each other. It was rarely uncomfortable, just not great.

So, for a long time, I said that I would either move in with my husband or move out by myself. I'd had temporary tastes of that freedom, and I rather enjoyed it.

Lo and behold, the universe listened. I have my very own place. And I'm in love.

Sure, since I work alone and live alone, there are days that I don't talk to a single person. There's no one to come home to and share my day with. No one to distract me from my homework. No one to share their dinner with me on a day I'd rather not cook. If I want human interaction, I have to seek it out.

On the other hand, there's no one else's dishes in the sink. No one is talking while the TV is on. No one is going to walk in when I have company. No one's lurking around when I really need to be alone. I don't have to watch anything I don't want to, or subject anyone else to the weird things I like to watch or listen to. It's quiet when I want quiet, and loud when I want loud.

It's awesome.

Sure, it gets a little lonely sometimes. But it makes the time I do spend with people whose company I enjoy that much sweeter.

The sweetest thing

My weekend in pictures

The baby birds (robins, I think) cuddled and snoozing on my front lawn. Their mom was off getting food (she was there when I'd arrived home).



The worst injury I have sustained thus far climbing out of bed. The picture doesn't really do it justice. It's a lovely greenish-yellow today.



Twilight candy? Really?



Oh yes. Really.



The makeup for my dance concert.



And in full.



I also got to practice my parenting skills, or least Best Aunt Ever skills. The "nephew" and his parents came over on Friday to help me hang up some of my bigger art pieces and I was able to show him the baby birds and teach him how to fist bump. In turn, he showed me where I need to child-proof my home. On Saturday evening, I babysat so his parents could go on a date and I was able to practice my baby shampoo mohawk skills. (No pictures here because I forgot to take them, and I wouldn't post pictures of someone else's baby in the bath anyway.)

It was so fun to watch him learn and associate things. He doesn't like bubbles on his face (no bubble beards for us), so if he had some, I'd wipe them off with the washcloth. Then, at one point, when my arm was covered in bubbles and hanging over the edge of the tub, he used the washcloth to wipe them off.

And the best part? Besides the baby hugs and kisses and overall adorableness?

He's learning to say my name.

Gets me every time.