Come out, come out, wherever you are....

"Come out, come out wherever you are

And meet the young lady who fell from a star

She fell from the sky, she fell very far

And Kansas she says is the name of the star"

"The Wizard of Oz"

I've been thinking about doing this for awhile, and since it's 7:40 and I'm so bored I'm contemplating going to bed (I hate Weds. night tv, so no big loss there), I figured this was a good time for this post. It's going to serve two purposes, and I hope you'll play along!

A few months back, a few of the reading blogs that I read were having a "de-lurking" week. Basically, they wanted the people who were repeat readers to leave comments to let the authors know who was stopping by. I wanted to do that, but felt silly. Now I have a reason to do so though. I need helpful hints, pointers, and/or advice, and I'm calling on you - visitors of Caseyland - to help. (Remember, it takes a village to raise a Casey).

In a little over two weeks I am going to Omaha for my friend Megan's wedding. Megan is one of my BC friends and she was part of the group I lovingly referred to as "the math clique." There was a group of us, but 5 in particular, that got to have 2 years worth of math classes together with the same little group in the same little room with the same awesome teacher. Due to scheduling, this meant that we ended up in most of our classes together. Now, the thing about Megan was that she was much cooler than me (but really, who wasn't?). To be hones, I kind of always wondered why she was friends with me. Well fast forward 9ish years and here we are. Megan and I never really chat - just occasional emails. However, she is one person who I know I can count on and who will go out of her way to see me every time I'm in Boston. She is one of the sweetest people I know and I am so excited to be able to share her most special day with her!

Now the problem. I have to go alone. Totally alone! And I don't know any of Megan's friends! I've never even met the groom! Her parents are wonderful, but I haven't seen them since graduation. I think I've met her younger sister, but certainly don't know her and I don't think I've ever even met their older sister. Like I said, Megan and I were "class friends," not so much social friends. I would go to her apt. occasionally, so I am sure I will recognize some of her old roommates. Basically, I'm terrified. For those of you who don't know me or haven't been reading long, and thus haven't quite figured me out too much, let me fill you in. I talk a big game, but put me in an unknown situation and it's not good. I freeze up and freak out a little. I may speak my mind and give anyone I come across an unwanted opinion, but this is the pinnacle of my scaredy-cat-ness. The last wedding I went to where I didn't know anyone I lucked out. The groom's best friend was one of my other HS friends. His girlfriend and I met at the hotel bar the night before, so then we sort of hung out a little, and one of the boys at my table was very nice and I never even had to worry about the dance floor (which, btw, I am TERRIFIED of). So anyway, obviously the people will be great people - they're Megan's friends and family. Now, the answer to my comfort level may be one thing - champagne, but I'm thinking that's not the route I need to go.

So help me!!! Come out of hiding and offer me some tips on how not to be the shy, insecure, friendless person at the popular girl's party!!!

What Would Emma Do?

Back about a month or two ago, I was reading the blog of a friend of a friend. She was giving away copies of What Would Emma Do? by Eileen Cook, so I decided to leave her a comment and drop the names of our mutual friends and see what would happen. Well, apparently name dropping works, because I got the book - Yay. Thanks Kristin!

So, I figure that since she passed the book on to me, the least I could do is let you all know about it too. What Would Emma Do? is a great book. Emma is having some God issues. She really wants God's help and talks to God constantly (each chapter opens with one of her "chats"). She's afraid that God is ignoring her. See, Emma kissed her best friend's boyfriend. She is trying to get out of her small town by winning a scholarship. And she is conflicted about what to do when all the "popular" girls start falling left and right. What would Emma do? Guess you'll have to read to find out!

Here are my 2 favorite quotes (hopefully they need no explanation why they were my favorite!):

God, are you still paying attention? In all fairness, I got bored with Lost after the first season, and 24 got weird after a few years too. There are only so many nuclear bombs that can go off before you start thinking there has to be something more upbeat to watch. And don't even get me started on America's Next Top Model. After season three, even Tyra's hair extensions looked tired. So I figure if I get bored with a show after a few years, you must get sick of keeping an eye on everything down here. A few millennia of watching Earth: The World's Only Real Reality TV - it's understandable that you're sick of it. However, and don't take this as a criticism, it is kind of your job, and if I'm not mistaken, lately it seems like you haven't had your eye on the ball. You might want to tune in. (Page 74)

God, does math come easily to you? I notice you didn't seem to have any trouble with multiplying loaves and fishes. Maybe that should be our story problem. "If you are the Son of God and you have to feed a crowd of several hundred, how many times will you have to increase the loaves and fishes to meet the needs of the crowd, assuming each crowd member wants one fish and one loaf? Then rework the problem assuming 25 percent of the crowd are vegetarian and won't eat the fish, but will want double the bread. (Page 157)

Thinking Spring!

Today my mom and I went to Costco to pick up some flowers. I had seen hydrangeas there earlier in the week and they were so pretty I had to have one. So we picked up an azalea too and the little colorful ones whose name I don't know :-) I love the color on my little deck.

I have no right to complain that I want Spring to be here since, for the most part, the weather has been great recently (other than the crazy rain last week). I even wore flip flops today. Hurry up Spring. Get here and stay!

Misadventures in Grocery Land or Why I'm Probably Not Allowed in Safeway Anymore

I've done it. I've figured out my perfect career. I should be a professional secret shopper/ quality control consultant. Those of you who know me know that I would be PERFECT! This thought occurred to me after shopping at both Costco and Raley's this afternoon. At Costco, I was disappointed to find that 2 (longer) loaves of the bread I've been eating cost about a dollar different than the (shorter) ones that they sell at Raley's. Always the careful consumer, I checked the sell by dates. Wouldn't you know that the "best by" date on most of the loaves was yesterday. Now, I'm anal. I check these things. How pissed would you be if you got home and had expired bread (though to be honest, how many of you would even look)? Pretty darn mad I'll bet. Well not this girl, I searched through the loaves until I found one with a respectable "best by" date. Now one is ready to be slathered full of pb and j and the other is resting peacefully in the freezer. (Sidebar: A week or two ago I bought the Raley's brand of bread because it's like a dollar cheaper per loaf. Not once, but twice - the bread got moldy with in a ridiculously short amount of time. The second time, it was even before the sell by date. You better believe I took it back and got my money back. That's when I switched to the name brand.) Now, that other loaf of bread got me thinking and I came up with a (sort of) great idea. I either need to post on craigslist or start my own website - costcogroupshopping dot com. The idea is for a pair (or group) of shoppers to meet up based on needs and shop with the idea of splitting things up. I mean, knowing that I can get the bread way cheaper is a bonus, but won't I forget that the one is in the freezer? And will it still taste as good? What about the French bread with the garlic infused. Do I need 2 loaves of that as well? So people could sign up for times and kind of share their lists. They could shop, split, and then enjoy a lovely churro in the food court to celebrate their money saving trip and new found friendship. Ok, I guess most people probably have people - like families, friends, roommates - to share groceries with, so this may not be such a great idea after all. Hmm.... guess this idea needs to be fleshed out a little more. But you know you're secretly thinking I'm somehow a genius, right? People? Please!

Anyway... moving on. So then I went to Raley's. Usually at Raley's I just wander. Because really, as a single person who doesn't cook, I never really need too much. Oj, milk, occasionally Diet Coke when it's on sale... you know, the basics. I decided to buy eggs. Who knows when scrambled eggs will call your name, right? I'm very particular about my eggs - I want them to look perfect - no weird markings. So as I'm looking through all the cartons, I notice a cracked egg. There was a boy filling up the OJ a little ways away. I turned to him and said, "these are cracked, you want them?" You know, thinking I'm helping and all. He says in reply, "I think you cracked them (insert big smile here)." Now, normally, in the role of defensive clueless girl I would roll my eyes and walk away. But having seen the cute boy (I did mention he was cute, didn't I?) smile, I thought, well heck, maybe this is kinda what flirting looks like (since, as has been repeatedly pointed out, I don't know a lick about flirting -not as the flirter or flirtee. I have the How to Flirt book my mom gave me in college to prove it). So I didn't go all sassy bitch girl on him. I just said something lame and told him I was just trying to make his job easier (and then kept walking up and down the aisles near where he was working like I was 13 or something). (See note on being oblivious to flirting).

I have one more story for ya. This is a good one (because I am aware the other ones are fairly lame. They sounded funnier in my mind). A few weeks ago I was at Safeway. I don't generally like Safeway because of my previously mentioned affection of expiration dates (I swear to you that every time I have tried to buy OJ or milk at Safeway, they have been either out of the brand, or the exp. date is like the next day - UGH), but I had a coupon I was trying to use. Yes, I went specifically to spend $50 so I could use a $5 coupon, even though all I really needed was milk. Awesome. Before I had left I had texted bf Kelly so see if she wanted to meet at Big Spoon (Sidebar - LOVING that she and the fam moved to my side of the world!). I hadn't heard back, but I decided to go do my shopping. I was wandering the store, trying to come up with $50 worth of stuff I didn't really need, when she texted saying she and Jill were on the way to the same Safeway and did I still want to meet. Well, heck ya! So I tried to finish up and went to check out. Fortunately it was not at all busy - there may have been other customers in the store, but I didn't see any. I only got to about $25 so I told the woman I was sorry, but I didn't want any of the stuff because I had to go eat frozen yogurt. (It wouldn't have been so bad, but I had a bunch of frozen/cold stuff.) So I went and had fun with Kelly and Jill and came back to the store with them. I shopped with them for a few, then they left and I tried to find my $50 again. Then my phone rang. It was my friend Dawn's son Nick saying that they were going to Chevy's and did I want to come. Um, of course I did! So yes friends, I did it again. I took my cart to some guy who was putting stuff away and said that I didn't want it. Now, you tell me... my mom was horrified that I took it to the guy. I said that was better than just leaving it abandoned with ice cream melting and what not. I was trying to do somewhat the right thing. Then I pretty much skipped out and had margaritas with one of my pretend families! I'm thinking Safeway doesn't want to see me coming any time soon. :-)

Magic? Not so much...

I haven't written about a self-absorbed person of the day in a bit. However, there is someone I have been thinking about giving the award to. His name - Ervin Magic Johnson. Every morning I watch the news while I am getting ready for school. And every morning I see the same commercial. Honestly I cannot even tell you what the commercial is for, nor do I care. Each time I hear it I get so irritated. Magic basically calls out his whole team from back in the day. He says something to the tune of, when I was in my 2nd year in the NBA I got hurt. After I got hurt I figured my team wasn't going to go the play-offs. Um, really? Because you were just soooo cool? That's so rude. Way to be a team player big guy. I don't care if it's true or not (well, it does go on to say the team made the play-offs, so...), it's just rude. I know that I take things way more personally than necessary and make a bigger deal about them, but this has really been bugging me for weeks.

Anyone else?

3 Willows

Can I just say that I love Ann Brashares? For those saying, who the heck is Ann Brashares, she is the author of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and the series that followed. She has just released a second sisterhood (series?). It begins with 3 Willows: The Sisterhood Grows. Like she did in the original series, I think she captures the beauty and mysteries of friendship and of girls going their own way and not only finding themselves, but also the meaning of friendship along the way. As someone who was an English major for a week before I realized I totally prefer things in black and white (thus, the math major), I also appreciate the very obvious symbolism of the willows throughout the story! Reading all of the Ann Brashares books is like drinking a warm cup of hot chocolate or eating a delicious sundae. They are just such a treat. I hope this series will continue!

(and if you are really wondering, this is book #8!)

From the website of Ann Brashares:

Seeds
Polly has an idea that she can't stop thinking about, one that involves changing a few things about herself. She's setting her sights on a more glamorous life, but it's going to take all of her focus. At least that way she won't have to watch her friends moving so far ahead.
Roots
Jo is spending the summer at her family's beach house, working as a bus girl and bonding with the older, cooler girls she'll see at high school come September. She didn't count on a brief fling with a cute boy changing her entire summer. Or feeling embarrassed by her middle school friends. And she didn't count on her family at all. . .
Leaves
Ama is not an outdoorsy girl. She wanted to be at an academic camp, doing research in an air-conditioned library, earning A's. Instead her summer scholarship lands her on a wilderness trip full of flirting teenagers, blisters, impossible hiking trails, and a sad lack of hair products.
It is a new summer. And a new sisterhood. Come grow with them.

5 down, 95 to go

As some of you may have read, I am challenging myself to read 100 books this year. The only real parameter I set was that each book should have at least 100 pages. My brother made fun of me, saying that I shouldn't count "kid" books. Well, being that I am a children's librarian, I think these books are totally valid. I have really been enjoying the sub-genre known as "Young Adult" lit. It's important to me to read these because I am trying to find more books for my 6th grade girls who don't really like to read to want to read. We also just completed the book fair at school, so I have a new pile of books for the middle grade set. My brother can call that cheating if he wants, I call it being dedicated to my job :-)

Because of the chaos preparing for and then living through the book fair, I am behind where I wished to be in my challenge. In January I was only able to complete 5 books (well, I really read 6, but one was too short to count).

Here's the January list:
1. I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You by Ally Carter
2. Sassy: Little Sister is Not My Name by Sharon Draper
3. Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy by Ally Carter
4. Judy Moody was in a Mood by Megan McDonald
5. The Queen Geek Social Club by Laura Preble

So there you have it. I'm in the middle of 2 other ones, so hopefully my February list will be a little longer!