Author: Jessica Dickerson

My cub scouts* and I went on a tour of our local library yesterday, and it was the coolest thing I’ve done with them yet!

The youth librarian, Gary, told us some neat background and history of the library, and we got to ask cool questions, like would there be enough space on the shelves if everybody turned in their books, and what is worth more, the building or the books? Oh, and I learned that although the Dewey Decimal System is for nonfiction books, fairy tales are cataloged in it, which made me exceedingly happy. He took us around the youth section of the library (which is quite large) and pointed out all the different areas. We got to see the dragon, which is their automated book return. And then he set the boys on a scavenger hunt to find books from various areas. It was way fun!

*It’s possible that I haven’t mentioned this calling yet on this blog. I was called to work with the cub scouts way back in, like, March or something. I am a co-den leader (with two other wonderful women, thank goodness!) for the wolves in our stake, which is the 8-year-old boys. I like them because it’s their first year and they’re still young and enthusiastic about everything. It was super overwhelming at first because I have no idea how to work with 8-year-old boys, but I’ve eased my way into it and it’s not so bad now. We even have a fair bit of fun, though they have tons more energy than I do!

Last Monday was my birthday. I am now 30 years old, which is just silly.

I requested a cheesecake this year, so Kyle made that for me on Saturday. We had dinner and celebratory times Sunday night with some friends, Sarah and Barry and their wee baby Emma. And, of course, ate the cheesecake. It was so tasty!

Monday was a wonderful birthday. I received tons of birthday wishes throughout the day via Facebook and chat, which was super nice. I got my hair cut, and that scalp massage was a great birthday treat. And we got to have more cheesecake with our lunch!

After Kyle got home from work, we went mini-golfing at Boomers and I WON! We’re still not quite sure how it happened. But that’s what the numbers said! And there were a couple of holes that I beat him on, so it almost makes sense? YAY! Next was dinner, for which we went to Olive Garden. We haven’t been there since we moved to CA, since there isn’t one super close by. But Tracy’s not that far away, so we decided to go. And the food was very good. Though Kyle didn’t realize until after his arrived that it was an appetizer. (I was about to call him a “foolish boy,” but he just handed me a slice of fresh-baked bread, so I suppose I shall forbear.)

Then we came home and I got to open the cards and presents I’d received. (Actually, I opened some before we left, but that’s neither here nor there.) I was gifted with several movies and books and cards and other things, including an apron (that we can only hope will bestow an ability to cook on the wearer). All in all, it was a wonderful day—I felt that a lot of people cared about me, which is always a very good feeling.

Kyle and I finished off the last of our wedding M&M’s on Wednesday. We’ve just kept refilling the smallest of our kitchen canisters and eating them. (I suppose now we’ll have to put in rice or something equally boring. Less tasty.)

You can see in the picture that some of them said “June 23, 2009,” but some also said “Kyle & Jess.” We had them special ordered to give away at the receptions, and Kyle’s mom and sisters put them into those super cute tins and tied the ribbons on them (which I bet was way fun). There were TONS, ‘cuz we originally ordered 15 pounds (5 pounds cream, 5 pounds blue, and 5 pounds mixed with the printing on them (because it is ridiculously and outrageously more expensive than just getting a custom color!)). But then they sent us the wrong color of blue, so by the time they sent us another bag of blue, we had 20 pounds of Om-Noms! We just mixed them all together and it was grand. But there was a lot.

And Tianna just told me she may still have some. We’re thinking about ordering more each year on our anniversary. They’re just such fun!

I had my first tai chi class tonight! Yep, like this:

Only, y’know, indoors at my doctor’s office. See, my neurologist recommended it. In her words, migraineurs “tend to be rather high-strung,” so anything that helps with stress will often help with migraines, too. I figured it’s worth exploring.

It’s a six-week class with one class a week. I was really hoping it would be full of old people recovering from hip-replacement surgery, but alas. Although I am the youngest one there, they’re mostly in their forties, I’d guess. Though one woman has had both her knees replaced, so that’s something!

The class was fun. The movement is very smooth and flowing, very low-effort. Actually, my knees were really hurting b/c it’s done with your knees bent the entire time (I don’t know how Knee Replacement Lady’s going to cope!), but maybe this will help strengthen them. We’ll see. Anyway, I had a good time. Now I just have to practice!